Vessel
by MaskedAngel18
Summary: She keeps her heart open for everyone. She is their comfort, but also their host. However the side effects are killing her in a sense. What will he do? What can he do? Can he save her? Or will he have no choice but to end her? She means everything to him.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody! I am proud to present my own Kingdom Hearts fanfic!**

**Now, don't be surprised if I take a while between updates. I have other stories to update and I would have to frequently visit Youtube because I'm no longer in possession of a PS2. :'(**

**So, all I ask is for your patience during these periods and to review and tell me what you think.**

**Well, that is all that I have to say, so enjoy the first chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any characters from the game. I do own my OC, whose name will be revealed later.**

Chapter 1

Roxas came into the Grey Room for his next mission.

However, when he got there, Demyx, Xigbar, and Axel were gathered in a group.

"What do you think is causing this? It's not like they just vanish of their own accord."

Roxas walked up to Axel, curious as to what was going on.

"Axel, what happened?"

Axel turned to face him.

"Apparently, something has been going around destroying Heartless. This probably wouldn't have been as big of a deal if it wasn't for the fact that the hearts have been disappearing as well."

Roxas was surprised, or, at least as surprised as he could be without a heart.

"What? Hearts have been disappearing? What could be doing this?"

Axel looked at her as he explained.

"Nobody knows yet. I'm assuming that someone is about to be sent to find out."

Right at that point, Saix came in.

"That is right, Axel. In fact, you and Roxas have been assigned this mission. Find the cause of the disappearing hearts and, if possible, eliminate it. We cannot complete Kingdom Hearts if all the hearts are vanishing."

Axel and Roxas nodded.

"Well, let's get this show on the road."

Axel created a portal and walked on through, followed by Roxas.

….

They reappeared in Twilight Town.

"Okay, from what we heard, whatever has been stealing all the hearts has been staying here lately. There's a good chance that it's still around here. Just keep your eyes peeled, got it memorized?"

Roxas nodded.

"Got it."

"Good because I'm not repeating myself."

They started by searching the alleyways and Market Street. Nothing.

Then they searched the woods and in front of the mansion. Nothing.

Then they searched the tunnels. Nothing….wait, what was that?

Roxas rounded a corner when he saw something. That something was a brown-haired girl. He didn't recall seeing her around Twilight Town before.

He went back around the corner to find Axel.

"Did you find anything yet?"

"Well…..I found this girl around here, but I don't recall seeing her before."

Axel frowned a bit.

"In other words, she's not one of the local kids?"

Roxas nodded.

"Actually, she looks older than them."

"Well, let's take a look."

"Aren't we supposed to find the one who's stealing hearts?"

"Hey, she could be a suspicious character for all we know. We'll get right back to the search once we find out who she is."

Roxas nodded.

Axel peeked around the corner with Roxas to see the girl in question.

In all honesty, she seemed closer to Axel's age than Roxas's age. So the term woman might be more correct than girl.

She had jaw-length, thick brown hair. Her bangs were about an inch longer than the rest of her hair and framed her face. She wore a beige jacket with a flower print on it with jeans and tennis shoes.

She was staring blankly at a wall, not really doing anything. Then, she shouted.

"Max! Did you find anything?"

Roxas wondered who this "Max" was.

Then, a wolf came in through another doorway. Roxas's eyes widened. Since when were there wolves in Twilight Town?

Axel, however, tensed up at the sight.

As the wolf made its way towards her, it picked up other scents, scents that didn't belong to him or his friend.

He growled and looked in the direction of Axel and Roxas.

Yep, they were caught.

She turned around at the sound of Max growling.

"What is it? Is someone there?"

Max started to slowly approach them. At this point, Roxas had raised his hands and started backing up away from the wolf.

The girl's eyes landed on him, but she didn't react. Roxas wondered why she was just staring blankly at him.

Then she turned around.

"Whatever they are, Max, they aren't heartless. Let's just go."

Reluctantly, the wolf turned its back on them and rejoined her as she raised her hand and created the same kind of portal that Axel made to get them there. She curled her fingers into the wolf's fur as he led her into the portal.

"There's one more place that we haven't looked."

With that, they left.

Roxas was wondering what they were looking for.

When he turned around to face Axel, he saw that the red-head had a serious look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

Axel shook his head.

"It's nothing, really, but we might want to follow them."

Roxas gave him a confused stare.

"Why? She's not part of the mission. She doesn't seem to be the one stealing hearts. We need to look for that before Saix gets on our case."

Axel shook his head.

"No, this might be relevant. Plus, they were able to open a Corridor of Darkness. Not too many people can do that."

Plus, there was something else that was bothering him. It was all circumstantial, but it was worth looking into.

"Well, we can't exactly follow them now. They said that they had one more place to look, but who knows where that is."

"Well, actually, there is one place where we haven't looked yet either."

"Huh? Oh yeah! The station!"

They ran through the tunnels to the station.

When they got there, they saw the same woman there. They hid behind the stairs and peeked around the corner. She was looking out into the sunset, but she didn't seem to be seeing it.

Roxas remembered what happened in the tunnels.

"Why was it that she didn't react when she saw me back there?"

Axel shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe she's blind."

Before Roxas could think much of the possibility, several deserters and shadows popped up. She turned around at the sound.

Roxas nearly jumped out of the hiding place to help her. But, Axel grabbed the back of his coat and kept him there.

"Axel, what are you doing? She needs help!"

Axel was staring intently at the scene.

"Let's just see what happens from here before doing anything."

Roxas wanted to protest, but had looked up when he heard snarling.

The wolf had sprung into action. He had charged in and started mauling the shadows. For some reason, he was able to deal some damage to the heartless.

However, when he destroyed a deserter next to the woman, they started to charge them.

Axel could tell by the way her eyes weren't following their movements that she was blind. Maybe he should let Roxas go in.

However, before either of them could do anything, a deserter had charged to hit her. But, instead of the hit landing, a flash of light appeared and the deserter disappeared.

When the guys looked again, she was holding a white sword. The blade was curved and the hilt curved to fit her palm.

As the other deserters attempted to attack her, she jumped out of their way and started slashing at them. For someone who was apparently blind, her hits were pretty accurate.

Soon enough, all of the heartless were gone. But, something was happening that Roxas had never seen before.

All of the hearts that had been released didn't disappear into the darkness. Instead, they stayed suspended in the air and floated gently towards her.

However, they stopped just above her head and stayed there.

The wolf whined.

The woman sighed.

"I know. None of these are it either."

She looked up at the hearts with sightless eyes.

"Why do they still come to me?" She wondered out loud.

But, nevertheless, she pulled out a heart-shaped crystal that she wore around her neck on a leather strap and held it up.

After a moment, all of the hearts receded into the crystal. The crystal glowed for a minute after the hearts went into it, and then it went back to looking normal.

She sighed a sad sigh as she lowered the crystal and traced it with her thumb. At least they weren't out where heartless would get them.

Then she felt exhausted.

The wolf whined, noticing that she had started to sway.

"I'm fine, Max. Let's just check out another place. I know they're somewhere. We just have…to…keep…."

With that, she fell to the ground and passed out.

Now, if Max could talk, he would have told her that she was pushing herself too hard again. She had been doing this ever since they found each other after _that_ happened.

She had been working as many hours as she could taking out heartless and taking in hearts. She had been searching everywhere. Of course, searching became harder after she went blind. And that was where Max came in. She needed him now more than ever.

Then, he smelled the same scents that he smelled earlier. He looked around and saw the same red-head and blonde kid that were in the tunnels with them. The red-head stepped out further towards them.

He growled, making the red-head stop. Now was not the time for someone to harm her.

Then, he took another look at the red-head. He sniffed the air again.

There was something there that was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

He looked back at her. She was still unconscious. He knew that she would be for a while. He couldn't leave her like that. With that, he made a decision.

Max ran up to the red-head, who he was certain he knew at one point.

Axel was startled as the wolf ran up to him and he summoned his chakrams in case he needed to defend himself.

The wolf stopped in front of him and stared at him, as though sizing him up.

Then, the wolf grabbed his coat in his jaws and tugged on it.

Axel looked down as he recognized the scene before him. He was telling him to follow.

"Axel, do you think he's going to attack?"

Roxas was nervous about being this close to the animal.

Axel shook his head.

"No. In fact, he wants us to follow him."

The wolf nodded and ran off towards the woman.

Axel and Roxas walked over to them.

Axel turned her over so that she was lying on her back.

He could see on her face that she had been working herself to exhaustion. That was probably why she passed out after fighting the heartless.

He reached for the heart-shaped crystal, and then retracted his hand as he heard Max growl. Apparently, he wasn't supposed to touch that.

He looked at her face again. Axel really couldn't believe it…

"Well, is she going to be okay?"

Axel turned his attention to Roxas.

"Yeah, she just wore herself out. She should be fine after resting. However, it is apparent that she is the one who has been taking all the hearts."

Roxas's eyes widened, and then he remembered that she did put all of the hearts in that crystal. But….

"We're not really going to eliminate her, are we?"

Max growled again after hearing him. This wolf wasn't stupid. He could understand him perfectly.

Axel knew that that was the order, but, he had a feeling that the order would change once they saw her.

Max nudged his elbow, making him look at him.

Max had a demanding look in his eyes. It said, "Help her or I'll tear you to pieces."

Well, since Axel wasn't really fond of the idea of getting mauled by a wolf anytime soon, he picked her up bridal style and started carrying her away to where the portal was.

Roxas…was confused. He didn't get what was going on at all.

"Uh, Axel, what are you doing?"

Axel turned around and smirked at him.

"I'm taking her back with us."

"What? But what about Saix? If he saw her and knew what she was doing, he'll have her eliminated!"

Roxas, even though he didn't know her, didn't want to eliminate her. He didn't see how she really deserved that. They could just ask for her necklace and be done with it.

Axel's smirk grew a bit.

"Don't worry. I think the plans will change once everyone sees her."

Max, while glad that the red-head decided to help, wasn't sure about the "others" that he was talking about. He didn't trust anyone beyond her, and now the red-head. If need be, he would have to be prepared to fight.

Roxas didn't know how the orders would change just by bringing her back with them, but he liked the option better than the original one. He decided to go along with it for now.

As he followed Axel back to the portal, he noticed that the wolf was following him.

"Uh….Axel? What are we going to do about the wolf?"

Axel looked at him as though he was being slow.

"We bring him with us too. Otherwise, the next time we come here, we have to worry about getting our faces chewed off, literally."

Roxas flinched at the idea and didn't protest about the plan.

They made it to the portal and walked on through back to The Castle That Never Was.

…

When the reappeared in the Grey Room, Axel laid the woman down on the couch after kicking Demyx off of it.

After landing on his butt, he looked up to see that Axel had brought someone back.

"Hey, who's the girl?"

He got up and took a closer look at her. In Demyx's opinion, she was cute.

"You'll find out in a bit."

"Axel, I thought I told you to eliminate the threat, not kidnap someone and their dog."

Axel turned around to see Saix. Under normal conditions, dealing with him would be difficult, but maybe this wouldn't be the case.

"Well, I did find out who was taking the hearts, but I thought it would be better to bring her back alive."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come see for yourself."

Max growled at Saix as he approached. Of course, the only one he scared was Demyx, who had backed away from the animal.

Xigbar came in to find everyone crowded around the couch and went to see what the big deal was.

When he saw who was on the couch, he laughed.

"Well, what do ya know? You actually found _her_ of all people."

**Well, that was the first chapter! So, what do you think? Please let me know in a review. I need to know how I'm doing. **

**If you want to know what Max looks like, I was thinking of the wolf Link turns into from Twilight Princess. **

**Well, that's all I needed to say. See ya! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! I realize that sometimes, more than one chapter is needed before someone has an opinion of a story. So, that is why I'm posting this so soon after the first one.**

**However, I still want reviews. So please, just take about a minute of your time to click the little blue button at the bottom and tell me what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own my OC, whose name will be revealed later.**

Chapter 2

"What are you guys talking about?" Roxas didn't get what Xigbar meant. Did they know her?

Xigbar was smirking.

"Oh, you can say that some of us here had known her at one point."

That didn't exactly help Roxas' confusion. Where did they know her from? Who was she, even?

Demyx, however, just became curious.

"Really? Who is she? She's pretty cute."

Saix, in the meantime, just stared down at her, his face emotionless. Then he spoke up.

"Would you care to explain to me the point of bringing her here, Axel? Surely you must have seen that even she has fallen. She is now empty and broken. She can longer serve her purpose. She is no longer a vessel."

Axel frowned. He was hoping that Saix wouldn't make this difficult.

"Well, she is one of us now. And the hearts are still going to her even if she can't hold them anymore by herself. I figured it would help with heart collection."

That and he had his own reasons.

Max did nothing but watch and listen. If the blue-haired guy tried to pull anything, he would lunge for his throat.

However, Saix did nothing to her. Instead, he turned his back on her and started walking off.

"I will discuss this with the Superior. In the meantime, make sure that she doesn't get away this time."

Saix left the room with Axel frowning at his back.

Suddenly, she started to stir.

She didn't know where she was. She just remembered blacking out after absorbing hearts into the crystal. Actually, it was probably hard to black out when all you saw was darkness anymore. So passing out was probably the better way to describe it.

She opened her eyes to see nothing but darkness. But she was used to that now. That was all she ever saw whenever she opened her eyes.

When she started to become more aware of her surroundings, she felt that she was on something rigid that was cushioned. She was on…a couch? She frowned. Then she shot up. She had passed out _outside_. Where was she? Where was Max?

"Well, hello there, sunshine! Had a nice nap?"

She tensed at the voice. Who was with her?

"Who are you? Where am I?"

She felt something cold and wet nuzzle her hand. She relaxed as she recognized Max's nose.

"Well, is that anyway to say hello? How about 'Nice to see you again'? Or maybe a little thank you, since you aren't in the streets?"

Max snarled at him.

"Awwww…I don't think he likes me very much. Then again, he never did like me before." Xigbar laughed.

She frowned. This guy was talking as if he met her before. She couldn't see his face, so she couldn't confirm whether or not she knew him, but she didn't want to waste time with someone who wouldn't answer her questions. She had to go search.

She stood up from the couch.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

A new voice. It sounded younger and less irritating than the first one. So there was more than one person here.

Now that she opened her senses up a bit more, she could sense four other people in the room. One had a great deal of heat coming off of him, as though he was surrounded by fire, and he was standing at one side of the couch. One felt cool. It seemed like she could feel water vapor surrounding the guy. She couldn't tell what the third guy was; just that he was right next to her and that there was a dark aura surrounding him.

The fourth one was standing next to the one giving off heat. He felt…warm. Not the same kind of warmth as the guy next to him, but a different kind of warmth, like there was a light shining in him. She found his presence calming.

However, that wasn't enough to make her want to stay. She had to go.

She walked off in one direction away from the others' presences.

"Uh…..hello? Can you hear me?"

That voice came from the water guy. She ignored him.

She felt Max brush against her hand. She curled her fingers into his fur and raised another hand up to create a portal.

However, before she could go through with it, she felt a hand grab her wrist and stop her. It was the fire guy.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She turned in the direction of his voice and frowned.

She didn't have time for this.

However, she was surprised to feel Max nudged against her instead of snarling at the fire guy. It seemed like he was telling her it was okay. This came as a shock. She was the only one Max trusted. So, who was this?

She yanked her wrist out of his grip.

"Oh, and I thought you would be nicer to him."

She frowned at the third man.

"What is going on here?"

Zexion entered the room to find everyone and a woman in the Grey Room.

The woman turned to stare at him with chocolate brown eyes.

However, she was only looking in his general direction and not directly at him. There was no light in her eyes. He could tell by now that she was blind.

"And who is the blind woman?"

"Blind?"

Demyx took another look at her. He walked up to her and waved a hand in front of her face. Her eyes didn't follow it.

"Blind? Axel, are you sure you got the right one here?"

Axel turned to frown at Xigbar.

"You're the one who was saying it was her for a while. And there's no mistake that it's her either."

Xigbar smirked. She was pretty sure that she could _hear_ that guy smirking. This couldn't be good.

"Well, there is a way to test that."

Before anyone could do anything, Xigbar summoned his arrow guns.

She didn't know what was happening, just that some sort of energy was forming around the man. Then she heard Max bark and run towards the man.

However, she felt them coming already.

She summoned her own blade and deflected the flying projectiles that were fired at her.

Xigbar smirked when he saw the blade. A white blade with a beige handle. There weren't any intricate patterns on the curved sword. It was just plain and simple.

"Yep, there's no mistaking it now. It's definitely her."

She frowned.

"Why are you all talking as though you know me?"

"Oh, so you _are_ speaking to us now. That's good to know."

She pointed her blade at him.

"You didn't answer my question."

He held his hands up even though she couldn't see them.

"Easy. Fact is a couple of us here know you."

She lowered her blade after a moment.

"Who are you?"

"The name's Xigbar."

She scoffed.

"I don't know anyone by that name. You're lying."

Xigbar grinned.

"Well, that's the name I got when I became a Nobody, just like you."

She frowned again. She checked her senses again. It was true. Nobody here had a heart.

"However, the name you're probably more familiar with would be Braig."

She inhaled sharply as the image of the man flashed through her mind's eye. Then she wore a look of annoyance.

"Oh crap! Not you again. I thought that I saw the last of you back then."

Xigbar smirked.

"What? You're not glad to see me again?"

She stared at him with a look that said "You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm ecstatic. Can't you tell by the look on my face?"

Note the heavy sarcasm. It caused Axel to chuckle a bit. Xigbar just brushed it off.

"Well, since you're here, I think I'll pass on whatever you guys are doing."

She started walking away. She didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get far enough away from everyone so she could escape without another interruption.

Max joined her by her side.

Roxas didn't know what was going on, but he knew what would happen if she was caught escaping by Saix.

He ran up to her and caught her arm. She turned to glare at him with sightless eyes, but her expression seemed to have softened after looking his way.

"You don't want to do that."

He sounded…..concerned? Why was he concerned for her?

Then she heard a set of footsteps coming in from her left.

It was another Nobody.

"The Superior said that he wanted her in the round room and to gather everyone."

She heard the sound of portals opening and closing. Then, someone grabbed her arm. It was the fire guy again.

"Come on. It would be best not to give them a reason to terminate you."

She frowned at him. Why did Max seem to trust him? It was another moment that she wished that she didn't lose her sight. Maybe it was someone he recognized? But who did he trust other than her?

She heard a portal open next to them and he pulled her in after him.

When they stopped walking, she felt the presence of about 12 other people in the room, some of them from earlier and most of them new.

"You were right, Saix. She does indeed look like the vessel we had been doing research on."

She froze. She was pretty sure that, if that was the leader that was talking, she knew who he was.

"It's rather unfortunate that even you were able to lose your own heart as well as your sight, Nia."

As Xemnas hoped, she had reacted to her old name. She shot a glare at his direction.

"However, it seems that your defense mechanism is still working for you."

She scoffed.

"Just what do you want, Xehanort? I can't hold onto hearts anymore. I can't really be of any use to you, can I?"

Xemnas smirked. It looked like that she still had her memories intact.

"My name is Xemnas now. And, on the contrary, you are still useful. Despite the fact that you can't act as a vessel, the hearts still come to you. That could help in completing Kingdom Hearts. Besides, you must have had some way of holding onto the hearts that had been following you."

She flinched. She didn't want to give up her necklace to them. She stared defiantly at him.

"You're going to have to be more cooperative, I'm afraid. You're just like us now, and it would be a shame to let someone with your talents to just fade into the darkness."

She still wasn't going to do it.

"You can find your heart if we are able to complete Kingdom Hearts. We just need the hearts you already collected and your compliance to work with Roxas on heart collection."

Suddenly, she felt the fire guy whisper in her ear.

"Just do what he says right now. Otherwise, you'll be terminated."

She had no interest in fading now. She still had some things she needed to do.

So, very reluctantly, she took off her necklace, which held all of the hearts she had and handed it to fire guy.

"Very good. Your name is Nixa, now."

Axel watched as the letters of her name flew around and stopped as an X appeared in her new name.

"Now Axel, show her to her room and inform her of how things work around here."

Axel nodded and took her in through another portal. She looked defeated. They went back to the Grey Room so that they could pick up Max (he got excluded). Then, Axel started walking her in the direction of her new room. It was just a spare room for just in case they got new members.

She had yanked her arm out of his hand in favor of letting Max lead her.

On the way there, Axel started filling her in.

"Okay, this is how things work around here. You do whatever Xemnas and Saix tell you to do without question. You don't want to give them reason to turn you into a Dusk or just flat out destroy you. You go on missions as Saix instructs you to do. Since hearts automatically fly to you, your main goal would be collecting hearts. You'll probably be teamed up with Roxas a lot."

Max growled when he forgot to mention him.

"Don't worry, Max, I'm sure you'll be allowed to tag along with her on missions as well, since you two are a team."

Both Nixa and Max stopped. Nixa looked at him suspiciously.

"How do you know his name?"

Oh crap. He forgot that his name was never mentioned to his face. He managed to cover it up.

"I heard you shouting it in the tunnels of Twilight Town."

"So…..you were one of the ones Max saw….."

Axel scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah…..anyway, there's no killing other members unless instructed by Saix. And –"

"Why did you bring me here?"

He was caught off guard by the question.

"Uh…what?"

She looked towards him.

"Why did you bring me here to help them? Your leader was responsible in destroying my home. And I had lost my friends in that chaos. Why should I help them?"

He sighed. He had to make sure that she wouldn't get herself killed. He didn't want her to go.

"Well, my home got wrecked by heartless as well, but I'm here to get back what was mine: my heart. That's what everyone is here for. You lost your heart as well, so you would benefit from the cause too."

She still didn't look convinced.

"Well, we're here."

They made it to her room. With Max's assistance, she started feeling around for a doorknob.

"Look, just stick with me and you'll make it through this just fine, got it memorized?"

She froze as her hand was about to turn the knob.

Axel noticed this.

"Is anything wrong?"

She shook her head.

"No."

She opened the door and walked in. After making sure that Max was inside, she had shut the door, not sparing Axel another word.

**I'm not too sure how this chapter went. Will you guys let me know about how you think of it? I really need some feedback.**


	3. Chapter 3

…**..Does this story suck so far? I haven't gotten any reviews from anybody. The only form of feedback I got was from ccsakura21 putting this story on the favorites list (thank you, by the way). You can go ahead and give me some constructive criticism, I can take it. I know I'm an amateur, so advice is welcomed. It's better than no feedback.**

**I know that the story hasn't been up for too long, but I get a bit impatient sometimes when I post a new story. So please excuse me for my impatience.**

**Well, I'll just get to the story now. Please review even if it sucks.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own my OC, Nixa.**

Chapter 3

A few days had passed since Nixa joined and she hadn't really been seen a whole lot. She would occasionally walk down the hallways with Max to get a feel for the place, but she didn't interact with anyone, despite the fact that she supposedly knew some of them.

Roxas was supposed to go with her on her first mission today, but when he got to the Grey Room, she was no where to be found.

"Roxas."

He looked up at Saix, who walked towards him.

"Will you be sure to let Number XV know that she is expected to come here everyday to receive missions and to be on time for them? I won't tolerate tardiness."

Roxas nodded and started walking off in the direction he thought her room was.

It took 15 minutes of wondering around and knocking on a couple of wrong doors, but he eventually spotted Max, who was on his way back after exploring the castle some more.

He turned around and growled when he detected someone behind him, but calmed down when he recognized the blond boy.

Roxas hesitated for a minute, and then got closer to him.

"Ummm…do you know where Nixa is? She needs to go on a mission today and Saix is already in a bad enough mood."

After regarding him for a moment, Max turned around and started walking back to the room.

Roxas stood for a moment, thinking that he wasn't going to help him, until Max stopped and looked back at him expectantly. Then it clicked in Roxas' mind.

"Oh! You want me to follow."

Max nodded and started walking off, this time with Roxas in tow.

They eventually made it to Nixa's room. Nixa got up from her bed when she sensed Max at the door, but paused when she sensed someone else.

It was the light boy. If she remembered correctly, she heard that his name was Roxas. What was he here for?

She opened the door and, instead of Max just walking in, he gently grabbed her sleeve with his teeth and tugged.

"Saix says that you have to come to the Grey Room to receive your mission. Today's your first day, remember?"

Oh, that was today, was it? She wasn't really looking forward to it.

But, she wordlessly followed the kid out.

Axel leaned against the wall in the Grey Room as he watched Roxas and Nixa get their mission from Saix.

It turned out their mission was in Twilight Town. All she had to do was to take heartless out. Except, instead of taking them in, she had to let Roxas use the Keyblade to send them off. Besides, she didn't get her necklace back, so she couldn't collect them herself.

He watched as they left. He had a thoughtful look on his face. Unfortunately, Saix caught him like that.

"And just what were you thinking?"

Axel didn't answer.

"You're not thinking of just letting her back in after all this time, are you?"

Axel didn't answer, just kept his head down.

"You haven't forgotten who it was that had attacked you back then? Who it was that left you bleeding on the side of the road as the heartless took over? Or who it was that had apparent control over the heartless? She's just a broken shell of who she once was, if we ever knew who she really was in the first place. She's not worth wasting time on."

Axel looked down. That didn't sound like her. None of that sounded like the person he knew. But still, it was true. She did attack him.

And he still didn't know the answer to the one question he kept asking about the whole ordeal.

_Why?_

…..

At the end of the mission, she waited for Roxas to say that he was ready to head back. She just wanted to disappear back into her room again.

But instead, she was thrown off a bit by what he said next.

"I have somewhere I need to be. You can go ahead and RTC without me."

Where was it he needed to be? She was curious, but she decided not to ask. She just wanted to be alone anyway.

She nodded and walked through the portal, not sparing him even one word.

…..

Roxas looked over as Axel walked up and sat down beside him with his own ice cream in hand.

They were at their usual hangout – the clock tower.

Roxas couldn't help but think about the new girl. She had more of a personality than he started out with, but she seemed a bit…sad.

He wondered why she would be sad. He remembered that some of the members were supposed to know her. Maybe Axel knew her.

"Hey Axel."

"What?"

"Do you know anything about Nixa?"

Axel was a bit thrown off by the question.

"Why are you asking me?"

Roxas looked down at his melting ice cream and took another bite out of it.

"Well, it's just that she seemed kinda…sad. She didn't really show it on her face, but something about her made me think that she was sad about something."

Axel's eyes widened a bit, but he looked down at his own Popsicle stick.

"Well, if truth be told, I did know her once…"

Roxas' eyes widened.

"Really? So do you know why she's sad?"

Axel shook his head.

"We haven't spoken to each other in a long time. I haven't even told her who I am."

Roxas' confusion showed on his face.

"Why's that? Weren't you friends?"

Axel was silent for a moment before answering.

"Yeah, we were friends, but…something happened. She attacked me when the heartless attacked our home. After the fight, she escaped our world and left me behind."

Roxas noticed the slight bitter tone that came with his words.

"Are you mad at her?"

Axel was silent again before answering.

"I don't know. I never found out why she did any of that. It wasn't like her at all. It was like she was a completely different person. Since I don't have a heart, I can't say that I hate her, but I honestly don't know what to think of her anymore."

They were silent for a while after that. Roxas couldn't help but think that there was more to this story. Surely this wasn't the whole story. Axel probably didn't know it, but maybe Nixa did.

He decided to get the story from her the next time he saw her.

…

Why was she even here? Surely they didn't need her for heart collection. They could get by just fine with just Roxas. They probably just wanted to study her more. After all, the research that was being done on her was called off after some of the dangers presented themselves.

That was probably it.

But, who was they? She knew who Xemnas and Xigbar used to be. But there were supposed to be more.

She recalled her first day when she was escorted by…Axel, right?

She recalled what he said before she went in her room. Did she even dare to think that was who she thought he was?

She wanted it to be true, but, at the same time, she wanted to be wrong about it. Even if she couldn't see him, she wasn't sure if she could face him.

She only saw a glimpse of the damage she dealt, but it was enough. She couldn't believe she did that.

"Hey!"

She turned around as she recognized Roxas' voice. He was one of the few people that Max didn't growl at.

Roxas considered himself lucky to find her out in the hallway, especially since she was almost late for the mission again.

"We have to report to the Grey Room. It's almost time for the mission."

Oh yeah, she had almost forgotten that she still had to go to missions everyday. It was something she should probably consider making a habit of.

On the way there, Roxas noticed that she wasn't holding onto Max like she did for the first few days he did see her.

"How are you following me if you're blind?"

She turned her head towards him, her brow furrowed.

"I can hear your footsteps and I can sense you."

"How can you sense me?"

She stared at him for a moment before sighing.

"I have a theory, but I'll explain it to you later. You said we were going to be late?"

Roxas nodded and looked away sheepishly.

"Yeah…."

They entered the Grey Room and Saix gave them their mission. Go and take down a giant heartless in Twilight Town. If most of her missions were going to be in Twilight Town, what was the point in making her move into the castle?

But, nevertheless, they went to find the heartless.

They had started out in Market Street and made their way up to the station.

"Are they sure that there is a heartless here? I haven't sensed anything at all."

It was at that moment that a Guardian popped up behind her.

"Look out!"

Roxas' warning came in the nick of time and she jumped out of the way of the laser that was aimed at her.

For the next few minutes, they fought the Guardian until they managed to take it down. What was surprising to Roxas was that, even though she was blind, she knew when an attack was coming her way and where the heartless was. She didn't even get help from Max during the whole fight.

"Well, that's that. Time to head back, unless you have somewhere you need to go again?"

She wasn't sure where he would go, but it wasn't her business to snoop, even if she was curious.

"Actually, do you like ice cream?"

The question threw her off completely.

"H-huh? Where did that come from?"

"Well, do you?"

Slowly, she nodded her head.

"Well, then, wait here and I'll be right back."

She was very confused. That much could be seen on her face. But she complied and waited, wondering what he was planning.

A few minutes later, he came back and he gently grabbed her wrist. He started pulling her away in one direction and up some stairs.

She didn't know where they were, just that they kept going up. Eventually, he stopped somewhere in a windy place. She was pretty sure she could hear something ticking somewhere.

"Where are we?"

Roxas looked over at her, seeing that she looked very confused about what was going on.

"We're at the top of the clock tower. I come to eat ice cream up here all the time."

He sat down on the edge, and then realized that he should probably help her so that she wouldn't fall off.

But, Max had beaten him to it. He gently grabbed her sleeve between his teeth and led her to the edge. She carefully felt around the edge and sat down on it.

"Do you hang out up here alone?"

Roxas shook his head, and then remembered that she wouldn't see it.

"No, I come up here with Axel. He was the one who started taking me up here."

She was hoping that Axel would decide not to come today.

She felt Roxas nudge her hand.

"Come on. You don't want it to melt."

She wordlessly took the ice cream from him and took a bite after a minute's hesitation. She nearly choked on it when she recognized the flavor.

"Sea-salt ice cream?"

"Yeah. How did you know that?"

She smiled sadly as she took another bite out of the ice cream.

"When I was a Somebody, me and my friends used to have this all the time."

Roxas took a bite out of his own ice cream before speaking up again.

"Well, this is Axel's favorite. He eats it all the time as well."

It was more than likely that Axel will come up there as well. Roxas thought that it was probably best if he got her side of the story before he came.

However, what neither of them knew was that said red-head was around the corner, listening in on the conversation.

"So, what was your friend like?"

Max looked up at her, worried how she would react to the question.

But, she just smiled a sad smile and took another bite of ice cream.

"I had two close friends before I lost them. They were nice and…..fun. One of them, I'll admit, was pretty hot-headed, but that was just how he was. He would be there for me, just like I would know whenever I needed to be there for him. He would claim that I was some kind of physic because I would call him out whenever he had a problem he wasn't telling me about."

"_Okay, what's wrong?"_

"_Nothing's wrong."_

_WHACK!_

"_OW! What was that for?"_

"_Wrong answer."_

"Why would he say you were physic?"

She briefly debated about how much she should say, but decided to go ahead and tell him everything. He had a strong light in him. He wouldn't abuse this information.

"Well, I kept my heart open to everyone. I could tell whenever they were sad or were in the middle of a conflict. I guess you could say that, by keeping my heart open, I could read other people's hearts. I can't really explain how I did it. It was just something that I always did."

Roxas didn't really understand much of it, but he nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see it.

"What did the others mean that you were a vessel?"

She sighed, already seeing that they were going to be here for a while.

"When I kept my heart open, hearts started to come to me. Like earlier, when you saw how the hearts lingered around me. At first, they were just sad or conflicted and needed comfort. Some sort of haven where they could be safe. I offered that haven and to listen to their problems. I allowed them to stay until they could move on by themselves."

"Oh…"

Roxas still didn't understand, but that sounded nice of her. What would cause her to attack a friend?

"Whatever happened to your friend? Is he still around?"

The question had sent a dark cloud to her mind. He panicked a bit at the sad look on her face.

Max was worried as well. This was a sore subject for her.

"I was weak."

The answer threw him off guard.

"What do you mean?"

She drew in one knee to her chest and rested her head on it as she thought back to that day.

"It's all my fault. I nearly killed him…..on that day. I was the reason the heartless was able to get to him instead of helping him escape."

**Please leave me a review! I need feedback on how this story is going! As I said, advice is welcomed! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! I'm glad for the positive reviews from riceball793 and twilight girl456 for looking over the first three chapters. Thanks you guys! ^^**

**For those of you that hate Marluxia, you may find part of this chapter entertaining.**

**Also, if anyone can clarify what second person POV is, that would be helpful. I think I might or might not be writing that instead of third person POV (I know I should probably already know what second person POV is, but I never remembered learning what it was).**

**Well, that's all I have to say. I don't really have anything to rant about. So, here's the update!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own my OC, Nixa/Nia.**

Chapter 4

(Radiant Garden)

Chocolate brown eyes watched the sky as heart after heart floated towards her. They were fleeing something. Nia could sense the fear in them. They were trying to hide.

"Nia, what's wrong?"

She was making Lea worried. He had been keeping a close eye on her ever since the study had ended. Max whined when he sensed something getting closer, something sinister.

"I think something is happening. This is too many hearts. They are all fleeing from something."

"What are they running from?"

Right at that moment, black creatures came in from the shadows.

"It's them!"

Lea got into a fighting stance next to her.

"What are they?"

A white sword suddenly appeared in Nia's hand in a flash of light. She looked at it with wide eyes as she remembered seeing it briefly one other time.

"Where did you get that sword from?"

Nia shook her head. They had to get out of there.

"No time! I'll tell you once we're out of here."

Lea nodded his head and threw one of his Frisbees at the shadows. It had no effect whatsoever. However, when Nia slashed at them with her sword, they faded.

Her eyes widened when she realized that Lea was defenseless against them. Max probably couldn't hit them either.

"Lea, Max, stay close to me! We have to find Isa and get to Ansem! He would know what's happening."

Lea nodded and Max complied.

Nia ran forward and slashed the shadows out of the way. She went around corner after corner, slashing at the shadows.

"We're almost there, Lea! Just stay by me!"

She didn't get a response. When Nia turned around to find out why he was being quiet, he wasn't there. Max wasn't there either. Fear gripped her heart.

No, no, no! When did she lose them? She had to find them before the creatures got them.

Ansem was going to have to wait. Her friends came first. They always did.

Just before Nia could take off looking for them, her hand shot up to her heart as she felt something dark entered her heart. She blacked out as the darkness started to wrap around her.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a very familiar place: her own heart.

"And just who are you, little girl?"

Nia turned around to see an old man with a silver beard and yellow eyes.

After studying her and his surroundings, he seemed to have come to a conclusion.

"Tell me, are you the host of all these hearts that are in here?"

Slowly, Nia nodded.

A wicked grin made its way on his face.

"Well, then, I guess I better take you out so I can have control before anyone else here beats me to it. You may have stayed in control because of that little charm you have, but I'm about to break now."

Nia blinked in confusion until a key-shaped blade appeared in his hand. Her eyes widened. The darkness was strong in him. Could she win against him?

As a ball of energy was sent flying at her, someone jumped in between her and the ball of energy, deflecting it away from them.

It was a man with brown hair. He also had a key-shaped blade.

"You have to fight against this! Your light is stronger than mine, so you can do it! Don't let him take over you!"

Her eyes were wide, but then she nodded, a determined look on her face.

"You're right. I have to find my friends. I can't waste time in here."

The old man laughed. Nia cocked an eyebrow, wondering what was so funny.

"By friend, you don't mean a red-headed young man, do you?"

She gasped. How did he know about Lea?

"Because I highly doubt that he'll stand by your side after what's happening now."

Her eyes narrowed, and then she growled.

"What did you do to him?"

He laughed again.

"It's not what _I_ _did_ to him, but what _you're doing_ to him right now. You haven't realized the fact that you have no control over your body now, have you?"

Fear gripped her heart again. This couldn't be true. He just had to be lying.

Then she felt rage. The white blade she had outside appeared in her hand as she charged the old man. The brown-haired man tried to stop her, but he was too slow.

Nia brought her blade down on him, only to have the attack blocked. She kept swinging her sword at him, but he just kept deflecting the blows. The old man forced her back with one push of his blade.

Nia landed on her back, surprised. Since when were old men so freaking strong?

"Now to deal with you and that little charm you have helping you."

Nia wasn't listening to him. Instead, she started glowing as energy built up around her. She couldn't waste time here. She had to help Lea!

Right when she thought she couldn't hold it in, she cried out the one thing she never thought she would have to say.

"GET OUT OF MY HEART!"

There was a flash of light as she felt all of the built up energy explode from her and the next thing she knew was that she was back outside. She felt really tired and could feel that her legs were about to give out from underneath her.

However, she didn't pass out before she saw what was in front of her.

In front of her was Lea, passed out and covered in blood. Nia stopped breathing as she saw a pool of blood forming around him. She looked down at her sword to see that it was covered in blood. A voice in her head told her it was his blood.

Max was biting down on her leg, trying to stop Nia from killing him. But the pain didn't register to her as she felt herself falling. She blacked out before she hit the ground.

….

(Twilight Town, present time)

Nixa was quiet after she told Roxas about that day. Roxas' eyes were wide. He couldn't believe that something so terrible happened.

They both sat there in silence for a while. Nixa had dropped her ice cream back when she started telling Roxas the story, and Roxas was too busy listening that his had melted on him.

Roxas didn't know what to say. What could he say? He wasn't sure how to make her feel better.

Finally, Nixa broke the silence.

"I honestly thought that I did kill him there…."

Roxas looked back to Nixa. Her cheek rested against her knee and her arms were drawn about her. It looked like her mind was in another world. Max was at a lost of how to comfort her. He nudged her side, but she didn't respond.

There was something that Roxas was wondering about, but he wasn't sure if he should ask now. He decided that he probably should because who knew if he would get her to talk after this.

"Well, what happened to you friend? He's still alive, isn't he?"

She was silent for a moment before answering.

"…..Yes, but most people would probably say no."

Roxas frowned.

"Why's that?"

"Because…he lost his heart, probably soon after I had passed out. I was found by someone and they took me out of that world with them. When I woke up, I was in a place called Traverse Town. When I remembered what happened, it nearly broke me. But then….I heard his voice."

"His voice?" Roxas was clueless. How did Nixa hear her friend's voice?

She nodded.

"His heart went into mine like so many of the others had. When he felt that I was depressed and knew why, he started talking to me. That was how I knew that the heartless got him and that I didn't kill him."

Now Roxas understood.

"After that, I swore that I would find his heartless, or his Nobody, after I found out about them, and give him back his heart. Of course, as you can see, I failed at that."

Nixa was silent again after that.

Roxas wasn't sure what he could do. He wanted her to cheer up, but he didn't think he could if she was blaming herself for a friend's demise.

Axel was supposed to be the friend that she attacked. Maybe if Roxas told him Nixa's story, the two of them could go back to being friends.

That sounded like a good idea.

There was just one more thing he wanted to know…..

"How did you lose your heart?"

Nixa looked over at him with her unseeing, chocolate brown eyes. This kid sure had a lot of questions.

"Maybe I'll tell you that the next time we have ice cream. Isn't it getting kind of late?"

Roxas looked out into the sunset. She did have a point. They had been out there for a while.

"Ok. It looks like Axel isn't coming today anyway."

Roxas got up and stood next to her, remembering that she was blind and probably needed help.

But, Nixa got up just fine and curled her fingers into Max's fur so that he could lead her back down to the portal.

They – well, more like Roxas – never saw the flash of red that disappeared into a portal that vanished as they turned at the corner.

…

After they got back to the Grey Room, Roxas went to report to Saix and Nixa and Max started walking back to their room. However, Demyx, thinking that it might be funny, decided to stick his foot out for Nixa to trip over.

Unfortunately for Demyx, he forgot about Max, who saw that.

So Max snuck up behind him and bit his leg.

"OW!" Demyx fell to the floor, clutching his leg. Max didn't bite him too hard. His bones were still intact and he wasn't bleeding TOO badly.

It was just hard enough to get the point across: don't mess with Nixa when Max was in the room.

Nixa stopped in front of the injured Sitar player.

"That's what you get for trying to trip a blind person, Demyx."

Demyx looked up, shocked.

"How did you know that I was going to trip you?"

She smirked.

"I didn't. You just confirmed it."

Demyx nearly face palmed himself for that. She handed him a Potion for the wound. She didn't have anything against him, so why let him walk around with an injured leg?

"Well, how did you know it was me? It could have been Xigbar or Axel for all you know."

She cocked her head to the side as she stared at him.

"I can sense you."

"Huh?" Demyx didn't understand.

"It feels like you're surrounded by water vapor. It gives you a cool feeling."

A look of awe made its way across his face.

"Really? That's cool! Hang on."

He grabbed Axel, who was passing by, and dragged him in front of her.

"Do you know who this is?"

It didn't take Nixa long to recognize the fiery aura.

"It's Axel."

"What's going on here?" Axel had no idea what he was just, literally, dragged into.

"I'm just testing her to see if she can really tell who's who by sensing them."

He grabbed Larxene, which probably wasn't the best idea.

Nixa felt the static around her, but she knew who it was when she heard her yell at Demyx.

"What the hell was that for?"

Nixa had heard her name in passing once.

"I don't think it'll take me long to recognize Larxene at any given time."

Larxene looked over at the blind recruit.

"What did you say? You're lucky to be one of us. Honestly, how did blindo here get in?"

Nixa glared at her.

Larxene noticed Nixa's glare being directed at her.

"Oh great, what's wrong with you now?"

"I don't know. You tell me. Am I supposed to get the urge to punch you in the face?"

That basically floored everyone that was there. Larxene couldn't believe that the newest newbie would dare say that to her face.

A second later, Nixa tilted her head to avoid a knife as it whizzed by.

"Larxene, no killing any of the other members."

Saix had caught Larxene in the act, and now she was storming off.

"You may not want to get on Larxene's bad side. She can be a real bitch sometimes."

Nixa nodded.

"Okay, Demyx."

Next, Demyx grabbed Xigbar. Nixa frowned.

"Get Xigbar out of my face before I stab him."

"Aw, and I thought we were such great friends."

Nixa rolled her eyes. He was obviously joking about that.

Next was Vexen. Nixa was never told his name. She just knew that she suddenly felt cold. She walked closer to Axel, where it was warmer.

"Why did you go over there?"

"Because it suddenly got colder over there. I don't know the guy's name."

"Oh, well, this is Vexen. He's Number IV and he controls ice."

That would explain the cold.

"Demyx, will you let go of me already? I have more important things to do than to just stand around all day."

Demyx did the smart thing and let him go.

Next he grabbed Roxas, who was heading back to his room after reporting to Saix.

Nia recognized the warmth immediately.

"Roxas."

"Very good. Then again, you just had a mission with him."

She rolled her eyes. Just how many more people was Demyx going to drag into this?

Roxas walked over to Axel.

"What's going on?"

"Demyx is testing her to see if she can really differentiate between everyone here. She's got everyone right so far, except for Vexen, but she didn't know him."

Roxas nodded.

Somehow, Demyx managed to get Lexaeus over to where they were.

Nixa suddenly felt a bit intimidated.

"Why do I suddenly feel small?"

"Because this guy is as big as a gorilla." Axel decided to retort.

She decided not to contest that and was glad when he walked off.

"I didn't know his name."

"That was Lexaeus."

"Oh." She definitely wouldn't forget that.

Demyx looked around the Grey Room and saw Marluxia walk in. He dragged him over in front of Nixa.

The first thing she noticed was a smell.

"Were you in a garden recently or something? I smell flowers."

"Actually, the name is Marluxia. I'm Number XI and I use flowers and flower petals in my attacks."

Nixa gave him a flat look.

"Flowers?"

"Yes."

"…Really?"

Marluxia frowned.

"Yes, really."

"Seriously?"

Marluxia was getting annoyed at this point.

"Yes."

"What, were you expecting something else?" Axel decided to step in. If he knew Nixa like he thought he did, he was going to have to pull her out of there soon.

"I don't know. Maybe something that's remotely badass?"

Marluxia had his scythe out now and pointed it at her. He was getting mad now.

She felt the energy coming off of the blade and carefully felt around the weapon to find out it was a scythe.

"Your weapon's a scythe?"

"Yes."

Then, as though she had realized something, she smacked her forehead in a joking manner.

"Oh, I get it now! You're the gay version of the Grim Reaper."

It was silent for a moment until Demyx dropped to the ground laughing. Nobody had ever _dared_ to say anything like that to Marluxia. If looks could kill, Nixa would be burning a thousand times over.

Demyx stopped laughing when he saw the glare directed at him from Marluxia.

Axel quickly intervened before the situation could get worse.

"Well, we really need to get going now."

Axel grabbed her arm and walked quickly out into the hallway with Max following.

"Hey, you wouldn't have happened to see what his face looked like, did you?"

Axel rolled his eyes.

"Yes, and it looked like he was about to kill you. I would suggest that you refrain from giving anymore people here a reason to kill you."

She sighed and nodded her head.

She felt Demyx running up to catch up to them. He probably didn't want to be stuck with a very mad Marluxia.

She also felt another presence coming towards them. She could recognize this warmth anywhere.

"Hey Roxas! Where did you run off to?"

Axel stopped. He looked in the direction she was staring at.

"I guess you _can_ get the wrong person."

She looked towards Demyx.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's not Roxas."

"Huh?"

She looked back towards the other presence. It felt exactly like Roxas'.

"I'm over here."

Roxas was standing next to Axel. He didn't get why Nixa thought he was over there.

"That's Number XIV, Xion."

**And that's where I'll leave things for now. For those of you that played 358/2 Days, you can probably already guess what just happened here. For those of you that didn't, you'll just have to wait for later chapters. Or go to Youtube. But don't stop reading the story if you do.**

**Well, that's it for now. See ya! And don't forget to review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heh heh, I thought some of you guys would get a kick out of the Grim Reaper comment from the last chapter. I don't like Marluxia too much (in case you couldn't guess), so I couldn't write this story without making fun of him in any way. **

**Well, anyway, time for chapter five!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I did own a copy of the PS2 games, but my brother reclaimed his PS2 so I can't play them anymore. :'( I do own my OC, Nixa.**

Chapter 5

"Xion?"

Nixa was really confused. She would admit that some people felt similar to each other, but there was always one small difference that she would feel so she could differentiate between two similar people.

This, however, wasn't one of those times.

Now that she sensed where Roxas really was, she couldn't sense a difference between the two at all! It was almost as if they were clones or something.

Nixa found the whole thing disorienting.

Axel saw her frown at the hooded girl before her. She must be really thrown off by this.

"Guess you can't get them right all the time."

Nixa turned to Demyx.

"Yeah, but remember, I can still find you."

"Huh?"

She threw an Iron at him and it hit his head.

"Ow!"

"Told ya."

"You didn't have to throw things at me!"

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Whatever."

She tossed him a potion for the head injury he probably got from that. This time he caught it in his hand.

"Thanks."

Xion walked passed them and down the hall. Apparently she wasn't very talkative.

"Excuse Xion there. She's new here and doesn't really have a personality yet."

Nixa nodded. She vaguely recalled being something like that for the first couple of days.

Then Roxas started walking off.

"I'm off to bed. See ya."

"And I'm going to go play my Sitar. Later."

Then it was just Nixa, Max, and Axel.

"Well, we better get going."

Axel cocked an eyebrow.

"Going to bed too?"

She shook her head.

"No, Max likes to go out hunting for food and it's been a while since the last time he had time to hunt. So we're just going to another world for a while."

"Wait, you let him hunt?"

She turned her head to look towards him. Of course, she was staring at his chin more than his face.

"Well, yeah. He's not tamed. It's more of a pride thing for him to get his own food than wait to be fed like a domesticated dog."

Max nodded. That was exactly right. He wasn't a dog. He didn't take orders and he definitely didn't beg for food. He just did as she asked sometimes because they were friends.

This made Axel curious.

"Mind if I come along?"

She regarded him for a moment before answering.

"Sure. I don't see why not. Just don't get in Max's way while we're there."

"Got it."

With that, Nixa opened a portal.

"Okay Max, this time you get to choose where we go."

Max nodded and walked in. Nixa and Axel followed.

….

They came out in a wooded area.

Max had immediately set out on a hunt for food.

Nixa closed her eyes as she heard the birds chirping and the different smells of the forest wafted into her nose.

"I should have figured he'd pick this place."

Axel frowned as he realized something.

"How do you get from place to place with the portals if you can't even see where you've been?"

Nixa opened her eyes and looked towards him.

"That would be where Max comes in. At first, I was wondering blindly, not even knowing if I visited the same world twice or if I was even in a safe place. After I reunited with Max, he would picture the place in his head and that would be where the portal leads. We would get to new worlds after hearing about them from other people in Traverse Town."

Axel nodded, somewhat understanding it but not completely.

They were silent for a moment, walking around the forest, before Nixa spoke up.

"So….I see that you're still picking up stray puppies."

Axel froze. So, she recognized him after all.

"Hey, you're normally on my side about that. Plus, I wasn't the one who applied that literally when you saw Max."

She laughed, remembering his reaction to when he first saw Max.

"So, how long did you know it was me?"

It was pointless to pretend he wasn't who she guessed him to be.

"Since my first day here, when you walked me to my room."

"Oh…." That long.

"Why didn't you tell me that you recognized me?"

"Why didn't you tell me who you were? You were obviously able to recognize me faster than I was able to recognize you."

That was a good point. He didn't know how to counter that.

Nixa suddenly looked sad.

"Do you…..hate me?"

Even though she couldn't see anyway, she didn't look at him full in the face. She was too ashamed and full of guilt to try to look at him in the eye.

This made Axel's chest tighten a bit. He knew now that she wasn't in control of herself, and she knew that as well, but she still blamed herself. She called herself weak.

Did this have to do with the time she was being studied? He didn't have the answer to that, but he knew the answer to her question.

"Well, it's kind of hard to hate when you don't have a heart to hate with."

He meant that in a joking manner, but it did nothing to cheer her up. In fact, in only made her feel worse.

Well, that was an epic fail. So he tried again.

"Look, I already heard about what happened that day when you told Roxas."

Her head shot up, eyes wide.

Axel scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"I overheard you guys at the clock tower. Anyway, the point is that, even though I don't know exactly what happened to you to make you act like that, I don't hate you. I can never hate you. Got it memorized?"

Nixa looked at him with wide eyes before smiling at him. She walked over to him and gave him a small hug. She pulled out after a few seconds, but it still made Axel's chest feel warm.

Right at that moment, they both heard someone scream.

"Aaaahhhh! The beast has returned!"

It sounded like Max decided to indulge in his favorite pastime in this world.

"MAX! How many times have I told you to not scare the Dwarves?"

…

A few days later, Nixa and Max were walking to the Grey Room to receive their mission for the day when they ran into Axel and Saix (and no, they didn't literally run into them).

"Ah, Number XV, I was just about to summon you."

She tilted her head to one side.

"Why's that?"

"The Superior wants to see the two of you in the Round Room. Now get going."

Sheesh, this guy was as bossy as Isa was at times. Wait…

Before Nixa could make any connection, Axel opened a portal.

"Well, we better do as he says."

Nixa nodded and followed him in with Max. She wasn't sure if Xemnas wanted Max to come along, but the both of them were a package deal. She wasn't going to do anything without him.

They stepped out of the portal into what she assumed was the Round Room. She sensed Xemnas somewhere above them.

"I'm so glad that the two of you could come."

Ugh, she wished that he would just get on with it. The sooner he said what he needed to say, the sooner she could go to her mission and then have ice cream with Roxas and Axel.

"I need you two to go with the team I'm sending to Castle Oblivion."

Nixa frowned.

"What is it that you need us to do there?" Axel was wondering.

"There is supposed to be a chamber there. I need you two to find it."

And he was telling a blind woman to do this why?

"And how do you think I'll be of any help in finding anything in a castle?"

"You can still sense the presence of others, even if they don't have hearts."

"…..Yeah, and before you ask, I can still read hearts as well."

Xemnas smirked.

"Then you may be invaluable to this search. There is supposed to be someone in that chamber. If you can lock onto his presence, you should have an easier time to find it, despite your disability."

She sighed. There was no getting out of this one by the sounds of it.

"You are to leave with the others in two days."

Nixa and Axel nodded, and then left via portal with Max.

…..

Nixa and Axel were teamed up together for their mission today. They were to scout out a new world.

However, Axel encountered a problem after leaving the portal and into the new world.

Nixa disappeared. Max was there with him, but where did Nixa go?

Axel looked around. It looked like he was in someone's house. It looked like a very nice house.

But, right now, his priority was finding Nixa. Max started to sniff around, trying to find her.

Meanwhile, Nixa had no idea where she was. All that she knew was that she walked around for a bit until she heard a sound and then she had hit a dead end. When she tried to go back the way she came, she had hit another dead end.

After she checked her immediate area, she figured out where she was: in some kind of cage.

"Axel! Max! Where are you guys?"

Max heard her and walked over to where he heard her voice. When he got there, he saw what the dilemma was. Nixa was as big as a mouse and was stuck in a mouse trap.

"Did you find anything, Max?"

Axel walked over to see what Max found.

When he saw Nixa in the cage, he stared for a moment, and then started laughing his ass off.

Nixa growled.

"What's so funny?" And why did Max and Axel suddenly feel twenty times bigger than her?

"You're the size of a mouse!"

What?

"Somebody tell me how I got so SMAAAAAALLLL!"

Axel just laughed and then picked up the cage. Nixa tumbled to one side as he tilted it to open the door.

"Waaah! Careful! This is very disorienting to me! Just why is the ground moving?"

"The ground's not moving. I just picked up the cage you were trapped in."

Axel reached his hand in.

"Get on."

She grabbed onto his hand and felt herself be lifted out of it.

Axel placed the cage back where it was and let Nixa sit on the palm of his hand.

"So, what do we do now?"

She looked up at him.

"We look around. We have to get this mission done."

"But how do we look around if I can cover the whole room faster than it would take for you to cover the dresser over there?"

She frowned, not liking the near helpless situation she was in.

"I'll be fine. Max can help me. There shouldn't be any problems. I'm guessing we're in someone's house since there was a mouse trap."

"Yeah."

Reluctantly, he put her down on Max.

"I'm going to check the area surrounding the house and you'll check the house."

Nixa nodded.

With that, Axel left.

Nixa crawled down one of Max's legs to get on the ground.

"I hate to ask this of you, but will you check the other rooms? I think it'll take me all day just to search this one."

Max nodded and left the room.

She felt around for the wall. When she found one, she started her investigation of the room.

It felt like it took hours, but she eventually came to the conclusion that she was in a bedroom. There was definitely quite a bit of furniture in the room.

She also ran into some heartless. She was just glad that they weren't Axel's size; otherwise, she would be so screwed.

After a while, she figured that she had searched the whole room.

"Well, I guess I just wait for Max now."

Right then, she felt an unfamiliar presence.

She turned around to here…..purring? Oh crap! These people had a freaking cat! Where was Max when she needed him?

She managed to dodge its paws a couple of times. She would draw out her sword, but then there would be unexplained wounds on the cat for the owners to see. She had a feeling she would get in trouble for that.

Suddenly, she ran into a corner and landed on her back. Yep, she was trapped now.

She got up and stood there, trying to think of what to do, when she suddenly heard something growl.

She recognized that growl anywhere. Yes! Max to the rescue!

The cat turned around to see a ferocious-looking wolf staring him down. That cat could not run fast enough to get away!

Max walked over to Nixa and let her climb up on his back.

Max walked her to Axel, who just managed to sneak back inside the house.

"Hey, shortie! Had any trouble?"

Nixa shook her head.

"Nope."

Max let out an exasperated sound.

Axel cocked an eyebrow, but didn't ask any questions.

"Well, let's head back and see if we can get you to grow."

He picked her up and placed her on his shoulder. She sat down and gave him a questioning stare.

"I don't think Max would appreciate it if he suddenly had to carry your full weight."

A look of comprehension dawned on her face before she pouted.

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

Axel laughed.

"No."

"Good."

They left through the portal.

When they came out on the other side, Axel fell flat on his face with Nixa landing on her back. Why? Because the moment they came back, Nixa was back to normal size and all of her weight was on one of Axel's shoulders.

Demyx walked in to see the two of them on the ground and he swore that Max was doing something similar to laughing.

"What just happened?"

Axel looked up to glare at him.

"Nothing. There's nothing to see here."

Demyx shrugged and left.

…

Roxas looked up when his two friends walked around the corner at the top of the clock tower with their own ice creams in hand.

"Hey there! How was your mission?"

Nixa sat down next to Axel who sat down next to Roxas.

"Eh, nothing special."

She ignored the stare she could feel Axel giving her.

….

The next day, they were all up at the clock tower as usual. Axel and Roxas had a mission together and Nixa was teamed up with Zexion, who she found out to be the kid she knew as Ienzo.

They sat there in silence and ate their ice cream.

Then, Axel spoke up.

"I'm going to miss this ice cream thing we do."

Nixa nodded in agreement.

"Me too."

Roxas looked over to them, confused.

"Huh? Why?"

Nixa spoke up this time.

"Starting tomorrow, me and him are going to be away."

Roxas looked down. He looked pretty sad.

"Oh….."

Nixa looked over at Roxas, sensing his sadness.

"Well, since you're our buddy, I guess we can fill you in."

Nixa nodded, approving it.

"We're going to be at Castle Oblivion for a while."

"What's that?"

Nixa was wondering just how much this kid wasn't told about anything that went on at the Organization. Then again, she wasn't told what the place was either.

"The Organization's got a second castle situated in the world between worlds. It's called Castle Oblivion. Got it memorized?"

Roxas looked back down.

"Yeah. I wish people told me these things."

Axel and Nixa were silent for a while. Then, Axel stood up.

"Well, we gotta get back and get ready. Fun, fun, fun….Anyway, you take your time. Come on Nixa."

Axel walked off. Nixa stood up after a moment.

Roxas still felt down. Was everyone sure that Nobodies couldn't feel? She wouldn't be able to guess that with Roxas.

"Don't worry Roxas. We'll be back before you know it. Just don't get into any trouble while we're gone, ok?"

Roxas nodded after a moment.

"Ok."

Nixa smiled.

"I better go before that hot-headed friend of ours gets impatient waiting for me. Later Roxas."

Roxas smiled a bit at that comment. She was hoping to cheer him up a bit.

She left with Max following as usual, leaving Roxas behind on the clock tower.

**How many of you guys picked up on the quote from BBS? I don't own a PSP, so I can't play the game. :'( But I saw a couple of videos on Youtube and I found that quote funny.**

**Anyway, as usual, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello fans of Kingdom Hearts! We now enter the Castle Oblivion part of the story. **

**Also, a message for Blu Bearry:**

**I know that Marluxia kicks butt. If I ever got past the last fake Riku fight and up to his level, he would be kicking my butt all over the place (I have little skill in the card system. I'm more of a button masher). Xemnas from KH2 was easier to handle.**

**Well, anyway, time for chapter 6!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own my OC, Nixa.**

Chapter 6

"So, what is this place like?"

Axel looked around at one of the floors they were on.

They had just arrived at Castle Oblivion and Nixa was curious as to what the place looked like.

"Well, let's see here. The room here is white. Over there is more white. And, wait…Oh never mind. That's just more white over there."

Nixa gave him a flat stare.

"Sounds like a fun place." She was, of course, being sarcastic.

The place sounded pretty dull. She wondered if all the white would blind anyone…not that it would have much effect on her.

They were currently with Marluxia and Larxene on the top floor. Nixa was told that everyone else was downstairs.

"So while Xemnas told us to look for something, what will everyone else be doing?"

Axel had already told her that only they were to look for the chamber, which was why she waited until Marluxia and Larxene left the room before asking. But, she was never told what the five other members were doing.

"They are going to be messing with a kid name Sora."

"Sora? I've heard about him from a couple of different people. Isn't he a Keyblade wielder?"

Axel nodded.

"Yep."

Nixa frowned.

"What's the point? We already have Roxas. Why do we need to…"

Then, something clicked in her head.

Zexion, when he revealed that he was Ienzo's Nobody, said that everybody's Organization name was actually their real name switched around and had an X added to it.

Sora…

"He's Roxas' somebody, isn't he?"

"You got that right. How did you guess?"

Nixa smirked.

"Intuition…and Zexion told me how everyone in the Organization is named."

Axel laughed.

"Well, Sora isn't any of your concern. You just need to worry about finding the chamber. Remember, Marluxia is in charge. So don't do anything that he could get away with killing you for."

Nixa reluctantly nodded. She didn't like the fact that he was in charge, but she was going to try to keep her behavior in check, if only so that Axel didn't chew her out for it later.

Oh well, her job wasn't to mess with Sora. It was made clear that she had only one job and that no one was to interfere with her. So HOPEFULLY, Marluxia and Larxene would leave her the hell alone while they were here.

Speaking of the devils, they entered the room via portal a moment after Axel warned her.

"So we all know what the plan is for Sora, right? Well, most of us know what the plan is anyway."

It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was talking about.

"Nixa, don't you have your orders you need to carry out?"

Now why did they want to get rid of her so badly? Nixa didn't really know, but she wasn't keen on staying in the room with the two of them longer than she needed to.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going. Come on Max."

She opened a portal and the two of them went to start on the 1st floor.

Nixa figured that she could alternate between the top floors and the basement levels.

But, if this chamber was hidden, it wouldn't do a whole lot of good for a _blind_ person to try to find it, unless if what Xemnas said was true and that there was someone in that chamber. In that case, she shouldn't have too much trouble sensing that person unless something got in the way.

Nixa opened her senses to the castle.

….She couldn't sense anyone here that wasn't part of the team.

So, her search was going to be harder than what she had originally hoped for. Ugh, she was hoping that she wouldn't have to stay here too long. She wanted to go back to hanging out with Axel and Roxas.

As she stood there pouting about the failed attempt to sense the person out, Max was searching the room for her. After a few minutes, he walked back to her.

"I don't suppose you found anything, have you?"

Max whined letting her know that he didn't.

She sighed.

"This is going to be a loooong mission."

After what felt like FOREVER and thoroughly searching a couple of floors (at least as thoroughly as they could get), Nixa decided to go on a break.

Nixa and Max returned to the 13th floor. Thankfully, it was just Axel that was in there, along with someone she had never met.

"Hey Nixa! Did you find anything?"

Nixa glared at him.

"What makes you think I found jack?"

Axel scratched the back of his head.

"I guess you're right."

Nixa tilted her head in the direction of the new person. This person didn't have a heart, but whoever it was, was definitely different from the rest of them.

"Who's in here with us?"

"Namine. She's here to help with Sora."

Nixa nodded and went to lie down on the couch that was set up in the room.

"Well, since you seem worn out, why don't I look for a bit and you watch Namine here."

Nixa nodded as she laid her head back.

She heard Axel leave and everything was quiet for a while. That was, until she heard some kind of scratching sound coming from Namine.

"What are you doing?"

Namine was taken aback by the question. She didn't know anything about the woman that was lying on the couch and wasn't sure if she was anything like the others.

"I-I'm drawing…"

Nixa nodded.

"That sounds nice. Do you like to draw?"

"…..Yes…."

"Hm…..I wish I could see what it is you're drawing."

"What do you mean?"

Nixa turned her head so that she was facing in Namine's direction.

"Well, I'm blind. I haven't been able to see anything for a long while now."

"Oh. I'm sorry…."

Nixa smiled.

"What are you sorry for? You haven't done anything. Plus, I've managed to survive this long, especially with Max over there."

It was quiet for a while before Namine went back to drawing.

Nixa closed her eyes and eventually drifted to sleep.

…..

"_Hey Nia! Wait up!"_

_Nia laughed as she ran ahead of her friends. They were racing to see who would have to pay for the ice cream this time._

"_No way boys!"_

_She turned a corner and spotted Mr. Scrooge. He spotted her as she ran up to him._

"_Ah! Hello there Nia. I'm guessing you guys were racing again to see who pays this time?"_

_Nia nodded._

"_Yep."_

_Scrooge laughed._

"_Well, you may want to take it easy on them. You haven't paid for the ice cream in a while now. It wouldn't hurt to give them a break once in a while."_

_Nia smirked._

"_But if I went easy on them and they knew it, I wouldn't hear the end of it."_

"_Darn it!"_

_Lea and Isa finally caught up to her only to see that they lost…..again. Max, who was still a puppy, was right behind them and ran into Lea's leg when he stopped._

_Nia scratched the back of her head._

"_Sorry guys. Better luck next time."_

_Lea shook his head._

"_Whatever."_

_Since they were tied, Lea and Isa both had to pay for the ice creams._

_They spent the next half hour eating ice cream and laughing over nothing._

_Then, something glowing drifted towards her. They all already knew what it was, as this wasn't the first time that this happened. It paused in front of Nia for a moment, as though it was hesitant. Then it floated into Nia's chest, where her heart was._

"_You're still letting them in?"_

_She frowned towards Isa._

"_Well, yeah. I can hear them suffering. I can't stand by and just let them suffer. Besides, they eventually leave, when they're able to go on. They just need some comfort while they're down."_

_She had already explained that to them. For some reason, Isa seemed to find something unsettlingly about it. She didn't get why he did._

_Lea had a thoughtful look on his face for a moment before speaking up._

"_Yeah, well, you do what you think you need to do. Just know that you can turn to us if something goes wrong. Got it memorized?"_

_Nia laughed._

"_I think I have most of what you said memorized at this point, Lea."_

_Max started growling at someone. _

_Nia looked up to see two people walking up to them._

_One was a man with long hair and green eyes. He looked slightly creepy in her opinion, but she wasn't going to say anything. The other one was a kid. He had slate-colored hair that covered one of his eyes. They were both wearing what looked like lab coats._

"_Excuse us, but we understand that you've been accepting hearts into your own heart."_

_Her eyes widened. How did they know that? They only people she told were her two friends here._

_The man, as though reading her mind, explained._

"_Someone from the castle had witnessed you doing such a thing and we just want to confirm it, as well as offer you something."_

_Slowly, she nodded, not being able to deny it._

"_Well, we were wondering if you would like to be part of a little study."_

….

"Nixa!"

She awoke with a start.

Oh, that was just a dream she was having about the past.

Oh, great. Marluxia and Larxene were in the room now.

"Sleeping on the job is very irresponsible. What if Namine here wondered off? And where is Axel?"

And there went the Drama King. Honestly, she was only out for a few minutes, right?

"Well, Namine is still here, so I say that you had nothing to worry about. I do need my sleep after all. As for Axel – "

"I'm right here."

Axel stepped out of a portal at that moment. Nixa was relieved for that, although she didn't show it on her face.

"Axel, you were the one who was supposed to watch Namine."

"Oh relax, Marluxia. It was only for a little while. Give her a break. After all, Namine is still here, isn't she?"

Marluxia reluctantly decided to drop it.

"Anyway, Sora had just arrived not too long ago. Nixa, you are not to interfere with his path whatsoever. Got that?"

Nixa rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it already. I'm out of here."

She exited through a portal with Max.

She decided to check out some of the upper floors, since Sora wasn't up there yet.

Nixa stood in the middle of the room, opening up her senses, only to end up with nothing. Max didn't find anything either and was starting to walk towards her when he saw her sway a bit.

Nixa clutched her chest as she felt an odd feeling in her chest. It was a suffocating feeling. But, it left as soon as it came. Nixa stood there, confused.

Max whined, worried.

"Don't worry, Max. I'm fine. That was just nothing. Let's just go to another floor."

Max reluctantly walked over so that she could curl her fingers into his fur and started leading her to the next floor.

….

Marluxia watched in the crystal ball that was situated in the middle of the room. Something seemed to have happened with Number XV.

"Hey, Axel."

He looked up at Marluxia.

"Number XV was part of some kind of experiment when she had a heart, is that correct?"

Axel frowned, not knowing what he was trying to get at, but nodded.

"But I don't know any of the details. The person you would want to ask would be Vexen, since he was one of the people overlooking that project."

Marluxia nodded, contemplating. He decided to wait until it happened again before asking Vexen.

…..

After searching about two more floors, Nixa decided to see how things were going in the basement. It seemed like there was someone down there.

"Come on Max; let's see what's going on."

Together they went to the basement, where everyone else was already gathered.

"Oh, were you guys having a group meeting or something? Well, anyway, you guys know that there's someone wondering around down here, right?"

Zexion looked over to her.

"Yes, I detected his scent. I was just about to inform everyone here."

Nixa tilted her head at him.

"Scent? What, are you part bloodhound or something Zexion?"

She could practically _hear_ him frown at her.

"What? You know that I'm just kidding. Any idea who it is?"

Zexion shook his head.

"No, but his scent is very similar to the Superior's."

Now it was Nixa's turn to frown.

"That's strange. Well, I'll go ahead and let you guys go about your business down here."

"What, you're not going to help us?"

She gave Vexen a flat look.

"I have a prior order I need to execute. Besides, it's just one person. Do you guys don't think you can handle it?"

Vexen did not react to that well.

"I'll have you know that we are more than capable of handling such a thing. You should know that. You're just Number XV and I'm – "

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're Number IV. You are ranked above me. You are superior to me and blah, blah, blah. I've already heard it, Vexen."

Vexen was fuming at this point. Well, it was true. He had already said that before.

"Well, later guys. See ya Zexion."

With that, she and Max were out of there.

….

Nixa had no way to tell just how long she had been there. She just knew that Sora was making steady progress going up and that the intruder downstairs was steadily making his way up.

She was currently on one of the lower levels. The intruder was just a floor below her. She would have to leave soon unless she wanted to be confronted by the guy.

However, that idea flew out of her head moments later when the suffocating feeling came back. It was more overwhelming than the time.

Max barked at her when he sensed something wrong. However, he sounded so distant to her. She couldn't breathe.

She passed out before she hit the floor.

**:D**

**:D**

**:D Weeeeeellllll, what did you think? Let me know please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Happy Halloween! I would have this posted sooner, except I've been getting requests to drive people around today. I'm so tired now. -_- **

**Well, here's your update!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own my OC, Nixa.**

Chapter 7

"What is it, Marluxia? Is there any particular reason for calling me up here?"

Marluxia looked away from the crystal ball to see the Chilly Academic.

"Is it true that Number XV was some kind of experiment when she was a Somebody?"

Larxene stood next to Axel, her curiosity piqued. Axel just stood there, listening.

"Well, it was actually more of a study than an experiment."

"Would you care to elaborate on that?"

"Well, she was accepting hearts into her own. They naturally came to her and gathered into her heart. So, to figure out how such a thing was happening, we took her into the castle and just studied her as more hearts came to her."

"I see."

Marluxia turned back to glance at the image of the person they were talking about, now collapsed on the floor.

"And what conclusions did you come up with during the study?"

"Well, the conclusion was that she had an open heart that allowed other hearts to come and go as they please. She was also very tolerant of the darkness in most of the hearts she took in. We would probably know more about this, except the study had been terminated before we were finished."

That got Marluxia's attention.

"And why's that?"

…

Riku opened the door that took him out of his memories and back into a white room. Not wanting to waste time, he immediately ran across the room and up the stairs.

He stopped in his tracks at the top of the stairs when he saw someone in black passed out in the middle of the floor. He guessed the person to be a woman by her build that had short brown hair. Her face was turned away from him.

He was about to run forward to check on her when he spotted a wolf standing next to her, growling at him.

Max looked at the intruder menacingly. Max knew who he was and he wasn't about to let him near Nixa.

Riku didn't think that he could get near her with the wolf standing guard, but maybe she could still hear him.

"Hey! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Nixa was slowly regaining consciousness. She could now feel that she was on the floor. Why was she on the floor? What floor was she even on? What happened?

She slowly got up and felt around for support as she felt herself sway.

"Are you okay?"

Nixa tensed as she heard the voice. Who was there and why did he feel familiar?

"Who's there?"

She started to turn around to face in his direction.

"I'm Ri-"

Riku froze as he saw her face. She had chocolate brown eyes that didn't seem to see him and her bangs were longer than the rest of her hair.

He backed up a couple of steps. It couldn't be! This couldn't be right. This had to be a trick!

Nixa noticed this sudden change in behavior. After all, she could sense it in his heart as well as a great deal of darkness.

"What? You're acting as though you've just seen a ghost."

Riku inhaled sharply before speaking up.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

She frowned at him. Just what was he talking about?

"Why I'm here is my business. As for who I am, just who is asking?"

Riku hesitated before confronting her further.

"I'm Riku. Now, who are you?"

Nixa froze for a second as a memory flashed through her head.

"Oh, right. I remember you. And I'm pretty sure you remember me as well."

This made Riku angry.

"No! You can't remember me! You can't be _her_! You're just an imposter! Something Ansem must have come up with!"

Nixa sighed. Apparently, he didn't know much about Nobodies.

"No amount of denial is going to make me go away. I am the same person, in a sense. I'm just missing two things. One of them being my sight."

"Your sight?"

She nodded and waved her hand in front of her face.

"Yep. I'm blind now, in case you haven't noticed."

Shock flitted across his face.

"How did you become blind?"

"Oh, I'm thinking it was sometime between when you plunged your Keyblade into my heart and when I woke up pretty much as is."

…

"Well, that is interesting."

Vexen had finished explaining the "complications" that came up during the study.

Axel stood there stone-faced as the information sunk in.

"But, knowing you, you would have kept researching instead of calling it off. After all, it was quite a development."

"I did want to keep the study going, just to see how much farther things could have gone, but someone over me called it off. He was afraid that her heart would have eventually faded into oblivion in her own body if the struggle continued. So he went to the trouble of solving her problem and sent her home." Vexen said all of that with a bitter tone.

"I see."

Marluxia watched as the intruder from the basement found Number XV unconscious.

"Tell me, did she have fainting spells during the study?"

Vexen nodded.

"Yes, she started having them quite frequently towards the end. It was one of the signs that showed she was struggling. It showed that it was taking its toll on her body. However, it would happen at random. We weren't able to pick up on a pattern before she was sent home."

Marluxia nodded.

"Just why are you suddenly curious about that project, anyway?"

Marluxia smiled a sinister smile. Axel didn't like where this was going.

"Because, it seems that it's happening again."

"What?"

Vexen walked over to the crystal ball to see Nixa starting to get up, disoriented.

"Well, that is interesting. Just why would that be happening to her now? That was supposed to have been resolved. Plus, she's a Nobody like us."

Larxene walked over, leaving Axel over by the wall.

"Well, if that is all you are able to tell us, you can go back to working on your replica now."

Vexen nodded and left. Larxene smirked.

"So, what are you thinking now, Marluxia?"

Marluxia smirked as he watched the scene unfold between Nixa and Riku.

"Well, at first, I thought that she would have only been useful when she did have her heart."

"Oh, and what makes you say that?"

Marluxia looked over at Axel, whose face betrayed no emotions, not that he could feel anything anyway.

"Well, all of the hearts came to her. They all gathered and stayed in her heart except for the ones that eventually left. It sounded like that she could have been a living, breathing version of Kingdom Hearts. In fact, out of all of us, she was probably the closest one to harnessing the power of Kingdom Hearts. She could have been a catalyst for us to use. Yes, she definitely would have been of more use if she remained like that. But, she may still be of use."

"Oh and how do you figure that?" Larxene had a feeling she knew what he was thinking, she just needed him to confirm it.

"I need people who can follow my orders. The way she is now, she's too uncooperative. But, maybe some of the others aren't. We just need to lure them out."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

Marluxia smirked.

"We just need to wait. At the first opportunity we get, we'll confront one of them and give them enough incentive to keep fighting her. We don't really need to do much at all. After all, you heard Vexen. This will lead to her self-destruction anyway. We would just be speeding up the process."

…..

"What?"

Riku couldn't believe his ears. Yes, it was true that he had struck down a woman who looked exactly like the one standing in front of him, but she couldn't be the same person!

"You're lying! I don't know who you are, but you're an imposter! The one you're imitating faded. I saw it with my own eyes! It's impossible for you to be her!"

He was really starting to annoy Nixa at this point.

"Okay. You have a Keyblade. You traveled to different worlds using the darkness. You were possessed by a heartless. And you had shut yourself in the realm of darkness. And you're saying that me being here is impossible?"

It was silent for a moment before Nixa continued.

"Okay, I'll give you that, since I'm not really supposed to be here anyway. Then again, that's what I heard from other people and I can't say that I really agree with them."

Riku glared at her.

"Okay, let's just say that you are who you say you are. How are you here?"

Nixa brought her hand to her chin as she pondered.

"That…..is a very good question. I'll get back to you if I ever get the answer."

Without warning, Nixa opened a portal and she and Max escaped through it before Riku could catch them.

…..

Well, that was unexpected. Nixa didn't think that Riku would be the intruder. Just how did he get in here, anyway?

Well, it didn't matter. She was just going to have to avoid him. She didn't want a confrontation with him now.

Nixa and Max returned to the 13th floor to rest up. She still felt a bit tired.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Number XV."

Nixa growled.

"Shut it, Larxene."

She wasn't in the mood for this.

"Oh, are you cranky about something?"

"I'm fine. I just need to take a break."

"How have you been feeling, Nixa?"

Nixa glared at Marluxia suspiciously.

"Like you care."

"Now, is that anyway to talk to your superiors?"

Nixa growled.

"I'm just tired."

Marluxia just smirked at her, even though she couldn't see it.

"Of course. We'll just leave you to rest then."

Just like that, they left.

There was something very wrong with this picture.

"Hey, Axel."

Silence greeted her. She frowned and pointed right at him. He was leaning against the far wall.

"Axel, I know you're there. You're like a human furnace. Tell me, is there anything about Larxene and Marluxia that I should know about?"

Axel was silent for another moment.

It was true that Marluxia and Larxene were planning on trying to overthrow the Organization. He didn't tell her that he was also here to deal with the traitors. But, he also knew about what Marluxia was planning to do to her. Should he tell her? Or was it best that she didn't know?

"…There's nothing that you need to be concerned about. Just let me handle them, okay?"

Nixa frowned at him, but decided to trust him. He had never let her down before. She did the same thing she did last time and fell asleep on the couch.

Axel watched the rise and fall of her chest as he thought over what Vexen had said.

Was it really possible? Could he lose her like that? He didn't like it. He also didn't like how he was just now being told this by Vexen instead of Nixa telling him back when the problem first came up.

"….Why didn't you tell her?"

Of course. He forgot that Namine was in the room over in the corner.

"….Because it really isn't something she should worry about. Marluxia and Larxene won't be able to touch her."

"But still….even without them, she could still fade. She needs help."

"She'll be fine. She's tough. She can handle it."

He was hoping that he would be right about that.

….

_Nia walked around the castle. She. Was. Boooooooored. She didn't think that the study would be this boring. All they did was run the occasional test on her and watch her all the time. Frankly, having Even watch her most of the time creeped her out. _

_Eventually, she came across a lab. Obviously, it was one of Even's labs. She looked around at the different test tubes and flasks filled with who-knows-what, bored._

"…_..What are you doing in here?"_

_Nia jumped, knocking over one of the flasks._

_She turned around to see the kid with slate hair._

"_Oh! Ienzo, don't scare me like that!"_

"…_..All I did was ask a question."_

"_Yeah, but you snuck up behind me like you were some kind of ninja! Are you a ninja?"_

"…_.No."_

_Nia sighed._

"_You know you could humor me once in a while. I mean, you're a kid! You should have fun once in a while."_

_Right at that moment, she heard something fizzling. She turned around to see some of the spilled fluids mixing together and smoking._

"…_I'm guessing that's a bad thing, right?"_

_Ienzo nodded._

"_In that case, let's get out of here!"_

_She grabbed Ienzo's hand and dragged him behind her as she ran out of there. They managed to exit the lab and turn the corner before hearing something explode._

_Nia stopped, catching her breath._

"_Wow. That was a close one."_

"_Well, it was your fault. You were the one that knocked over the flasks."_

_Nia scratched the back of her head sheepishly._

"_Yeah, I'm going to die."_

"_What makes you say that?"_

"_WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE?"_

_They both froze as they heard Even's voice from where they stood._

"…_Do you have any interests in dying?"_

_Ienzo shook his head._

"_Then let's get the hell out of here!"_

_She grabbed his hand once again and took off running._

_Ten minutes later, she had them both hiding somewhere in one of the gardens._

"_Okay, we should be safe here."_

_She panted from all the running she had to do._

"_Well, well, well, look who we have here."_

_Oh crap. She hoped beyond hope that that wasn't who she thought he was. She turned around. Damn it! It was Braig. And with him was Vexen and Ansem the Wise. Yep, she was definitely screwed._

_Ienzo also looked a bit worried. It looked like he was also a part of the crime now._

_Even was fuming._

"_I can understand that Nia would be the one to do this, but you too Ienzo!"_

_Nia raised her hands._

"_Hey, Ienzo didn't have anything to do with this. It was all me."_

_Ienzo looked at her with wide eyes, but didn't say anything._

_Ansem stepped forward._

"_If that's true, then why did you drag him along when you ran?"_

_She placed a hand on Ienzo's head and ruffled his hair._

"_And leave the poor kid to endure Even's screaming and ranting all alone? That would be cruel of me."_

_Even didn't find that funny, but Braig found it amusing._

_Ansem said nothing at first. Just closed his eyes and smiled a small smile._

"_Fine. Ienzo won't get punished since he had nothing to do with it. But you still have to clean up the mess you made in the lab."_

_Nia groaned, but went anyway to spend the next several hours cleaning up after the explosion._

….

"Nixa…..Nixa…Hey, wake up."

Axel gently shook Nixa up from her nap. She groaned as she opened her eyes. She sat up and started stretching.

"What is it, Axel?"

"Zexion's looking for you. You better report to him."

Nixa nodded, wondering what Zexion wanted.

"Come one Max."

Max got up from his place next to Namine to follow her through the portal.

They arrived in the basement where Zexion was waiting.

"What up, Zexy!"

Zexion frowned at her.

"Why did you just call me that?"

Nixa smirked at him.

"Because you're so sexy!"

"You can't even see me."

Nixa gave an exasperated sigh.

"You officially have no sense of humor whatsoever. You know that, right?"

Zexion shook his head.

"Whatever. I know that you had an encounter with Riku. What happened? I thought you were going to avoid the intruder?"

Nixa sighed.

"I was originally going to do that, but I passed out for some reason and when I woke up, he was there."

"Wait, you passed out?"

Nixa frowned.

"Yeah…"

Zexion brought his hand up to his chin. He knew what it meant for her to be passing out. Could it be happening again?

"Are you alright now?"

Nixa nodded.

"Yeah. I guess that exhaustion just caught up to me or something."

Actually, exhaustion had nothing to do with it and he knew it. He also knew that she would normally have no memory of the incidences. She would only remember losing consciousness.

"You need to take better care of yourself or Riku will get you while you're out."

"I know, I know." She gave an exasperated sigh. "You don't need to remind me of that."

Then she laughed. Zexion gave her a confused look.

"What's so funny?"

"It seems that we made some kind of role reversal. I remember telling _you_ to be careful and all of that because you had a habit of wandering off. Didn't you nearly get attacked by monsters or something because of that? And now you're telling _me_ to be careful."

She laughed again. Zexion, although she couldn't see it, gave a small smile at the memory. It was true, despite the fact that she had blown up Vexen's lab a couple of times (she SWORE it was either an accident or she didn't do it), she would occasionally tell him to be careful and did look after him like he was her little brother.

But now was not the time to go down memory lane. Now they had to watch out for the intruder and decide what to do with him. Speaking of which…..

"I've also been told that Riku was the one that turned you into a Nobody. Is that true?"

There went Nixa's good mood. She frowned.

"Who told you that?"

"Marluxia did. He said that he saw your encounter with him."

Now she was extremely annoyed.

"Great. Now I have a stalker."

"Is it true?"

Nixa was silent for a moment before answering.

"….Yes. He plunged his Keyblade into my heart during a fight with him."

"In that case, why did you run off?"

"Huh?"

"Wouldn't you want revenge for that? After all, you lost your heart as well as all of the ones you were trying to help in that battle. He's the reason that you are blind and heartless now. So why didn't you strike him down?"

It was silent for a moment as a thoughtful look spread across her face.

Right when he thought he wasn't going to get an answer, she spoke up.

"What would be the point of revenge?"

Now it was Zexion's turn to frown and give her a confused look.

"What would be the point in getting revenge on him? It won't undo the damage that's already been done. It won't bring my heart back or give me back my sight. It won't bring back the hearts I was protecting from the heartless. And it won't make me feel better. I don't have a heart to feel with, so I _can't_ feel better about anything, technically. It would all just be a waste of time and effort once you think about it that way."

Zexion was silent as he understood what she was saying. It was true. It wouldn't do any of that.

"But…..there is another reason."

Zexion looked up at her. Her face wasn't betraying any emotions she couldn't feel.

"I can sense a lot of darkness in his heart now. I've sensed the same thing back then. He had let himself become a puppet, a pawn. He was possessed by a heartless that took up residence in his heart. I guess the other reason is that I'm in the same boat as him."

"So, you're saying you can sympathize with him? You're forgetting that he made the choice willingly."

She shook her head.

"No, I didn't forget. But he's fighting it now. He's afraid of it and is trying to keep it at bay. _That_ I can sympathize with."

They were both silent for a while after that.

"Well, I better get going. I still have a job to do."

With that, she and Max left. Zexion stood there looking at the space where she stood seconds ago. He wasn't going to admit it, but now that the fainting spells had started, he was hoping that she was going to be okay.

**So, how was it? I made this chapter a bit longer because that was how it worked out and because I have to start paying attention to some of my other stories. I don't want my Death Note readers to kill me if I don't update. So, it may be a while until I'm able to update again. It depends on how this week goes.**

**So with that, I wish you all a Happy Halloween! May you have the crap scared out of you at haunted houses and have good hauls of candy this year.**

**And don't forget to review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes! I am back! Sorry I haven't updated since Halloween, but life had to take priority for a while. Now, it's Christmas break. I have time on my hands until I go to visit relatives. **

**I also have a little gift for you, especially if you are an FFVII fan. I have a Christmas one-shot up on the site for you to enjoy. It is a RenoXOC story. I'm also thinking of maybe coming up with an FFVII story (I know, I keep coming up with new stories before I'm even finished with one). So, be sure to check out the one-shot and leave a little review.**

**I will try to update this story as soon as possible, but I don't know when I'll be able to, so your patience will be needed in this.**

**Well, nothing to do now other than to give you this update.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own my OC, Nixa.**

Chapter 8

"This is getting real old, real fast."

Nixa was, once again, on one of the upper floors and, once again, she and Max hadn't found crap, let alone something that resembles an unknown person or hidden chamber. It was frustrating her and Max to no end.

She was starting to get to the point where she wanted to just start smashing the walls in with her sword when she heard a portal open nearby.

Nixa turned around when she felt the static in the air build up.

"Is there something you need, Larxene?"

"Yeah, I need you to go now."

"Huh?"

Larxene groaned.

"Sora's going to be here any second! I need to give him something. And you're not supposed to cross paths with Sora!"

Nixa blinked, and then opened up her senses a bit.

Crap! She was right! Nixa had been so busy being frustrated that she didn't notice Sora and his friends sneaking up on her.

"Max! We gotta go!"

Max ran up to her to let her grab onto him and then ran her over to the stairs. They made it up a couple of steps just as the doors started to open.

However, before they got halfway up, Nixa tugged back on Max, making him stop. He gave her a questioning look that she couldn't see, but she still knew it was there.

"I want to know what the whole thing with Sora is. Let's just hang back and be quiet and see what happens," she whispered.

Max wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but relented anyway. Nixa pressed herself flat against the wall, hoping that she was in the shadows and not where she could be seen. Max stood next to her. He was going to see what was happening for her while she listened.

Larxene didn't see or hear them there. She had all of her attention focused on those coming in through the door.

Nixa heard a gasp. She assumed it was either Sora or one of his friends.

She also heard another sound, and this one came with a kind of energy surrounding it. She recognized the feel of that energy anywhere. Sora had summoned his Keyblade.

"I bet you work with Axel!" Nixa wasn't sure whose voice that was, but she didn't think it was Sora's. Although, it did reveal to her that Axel had encountered Sora and his group already. When did that happen?

"Too clever. I'm Larxene. So…are you enjoying your stay at the castle? I bet it's nice to peel away all the worthless memories and awaken the true memories…that lie deep in your heart."

Memories? Why was she talking about memories?

"True memories?"

Nixa guessed that one to be Sora. He was confused as well. She could sense it in his heart.

"Although…it seems that you're still forgetting the most important thing here. When that poor girl hears that you've forgotten her name, why…it'll just…it'll break her heart."

Poor girl? What "poor girl"? Was she talking about Namine? But…Namine didn't _have_ a heart. Was this some kind of trick?

"Poor girl? Do you know her?"

Larxene laughed.

"Is she…here?"

"Yes, she is. You see, the bad guys are holding her captive somewhere deep inside the castle. And you obviously are the hero, so you have to go save her."

The only person that Nixa could think that they were talking about was Namine. But, just what was going on here?

"Although…"

Nixa heard someone rush forward and a thump, followed by an "Ah!" Someone fell to the floor and something else clatter against the floor.

"I'm a bad guy, so you have to go through me!"

"Sora!"

There was a moment of silence before Sora spoke up again.

"What's that? Is that thing mine?"

Nixa had no idea just what Sora was talking about or if it did belong to him, whatever it was.

"What a shame…You've been wearing it all this time and forgot?"

Nixa once again had a moment in which she wished she had the use of her eyes. This whole scene would probably make more sense if she knew what they were talking about.

"No…That's not possible. The memory has to be engraved somewhere deep inside your heart. Sora – you think carefully, now. What oh what could it be? And who gave it to you?"

"Na…"

Sora was struggling with his heart to remember. Nixa could sense that much. However, something didn't feel right with the memory he was trying to recall.

"Na…mi…?"

"Sora…Sora…You're getting it now! Release the memory from within your heart!"

"Nami…"

He was close now…

"Namine."

"Well, it's about time. That's right…Namine. Yes, she's the one that gave you that tacky little good luck charm. Not that you even bothered to remember. No surprise, seeing as you also couldn't remember her NAME. Talk about heartless! I can't believe you!"

Nixa resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Larxene's you-are-so-cruel tone.

"It'd serve you right if I decided to smash this piece of junk!"

"Let it go!"

Nixa heard something smack against something else. She guessed it to be Sora's Keyblade against Larxene's hand.

"Namine gave me this. It's very important to me!"

After a moment of silence, Larxene spoke up.

"Oh, it's important to you?"

The static in the air suddenly picked up and Nixa could hear the lightning discharging around Larxene.

"Ten seconds ago, you didn't even know what it was!"

Nixa stood there for a moment as she heard the fight break out. She figured that was all she was going to hear from this exchange, so she felt around for Max, who was next to her and whispered in his ear.

"Let's head up to the 13th floor for a while."

Max nodded and led her through the portal she created with the 13th floor in mind.

…

When they got to the 13th floor, Nixa was glad to find that the only people in the room were Axel and Namine.

"And where have you been?"

Nixa frowned at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that when you went up the stairs when Larxene sent you away, you didn't show up at the top of the stairs and you didn't reappear on any of the other floors."

Nixa shrugged her shoulders.

"I was curious as to what she wanted with Sora."

Axel frowned.

"You know that you're not supposed to stick your nose into this. You only have one mission to complete here."

"Yeah, and it is frustrating the hell out of me! I can't find anything in this castle. Besides, I only listened in on one conversation, although I do have a couple of questions about it."

Axel shook his head.

"Well, you would be better off forgetting about those questions. It would be best if Marluxia doesn't catch you involved in the plan with Sora."

Nixa let out a frustrated sigh.

"What's with all this secrecy all of a sudden? Is there something more going on than just trying to recruit another Keyblade wielder or something like that?"

Axel sighed. Nixa could be real stubborn when she wanted to be. It was no different than when they were Somebodies.

"Just trust me when I say you don't need to know. If you get yourself involved and make the wrong move, you would be in more trouble than you would think."

Nixa looked down, still wearing a frustrated look on her face.

Axel walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Have I ever steered you wrong before? Just trust me here."

Nixa sighed in defeat.

"Fine, I'll stay out of it."

Axel smiled when he heard that.

"But, if it turns out something sketchy has been happening, I am going to kick your fiery ass straight into a blizzard."

Axel chuckled.

"Whatever you say."

He knew the threat was empty for the most part.

Namine sat at her corner, silently watching the two. She was surprised to find out that Nixa had no part in the plan involving Sora's fake memories.

However, she wasn't very surprised at the fact that Axel still wouldn't tell her what Marluxia was planning to do to her. She supposed that Axel didn't want her to worry, but she thought that it was something that she needed to know. Namine wanted to help her, but was at a lost of how to go about it. Right now, all she could do was continue doing as Marluxia ordered and keep planting fake memories in Sora's heart.

"By the way, how did you know that I was on the same floor as Larxene?"

"There's a big crystal ball here in the middle of the room. We use it to peek on everything that goes on here in the castle."

"That explains how Marluxia knew about Riku," Nixa mumbled.

Axel looked down and scratched his head. He was there when the conversation between Nixa and Riku went on. For some reason, he wanted nothing more than to set Riku on fire when he heard that _he_ was the reason that Nixa lost her heart. He couldn't really explain it. It was like something akin to anger welled up in his chest. But…Nobodies couldn't feel. So, what was that?

"Can you see what's going on now? I obviously can't."

Axel looked up to see Nixa frowning at the crystal. The only reason she knew where it was was because she had her hand on it to get an idea of its size.

"Larxene's fight is over. She'll be up here any second now."

He was right. A few seconds after he said that, Nixa heard Larxene appear from a portal.

"Whew…Throwing that battle wore me out."

"Really? It looked to me like you just plain lost."

Nixa placed her hand over her mouth as she laughed a bit. Larxene, of course, didn't like the comment.

"How dare you! You don't appreciate the nuances of – "

"An ungainly effort."

Nixa recognized Vexen's voice, followed by the sound of a portal and the temperature around him dropping a few degrees. This made her glad that she was next to Axel, who was, as she said earlier, a human furnace.

"Vexen!" Larxene obviously wasn't expecting him to make an appearance any more than anyone else in the room. Vexen walked forward towards them.

"How could you be humbled by someone of such limited significance?"

"Why don't you try fighting him and see for yourself," Nixa mumbled under her breath.

Axel elbowed her arm, although he was sure that Vexen didn't hear her. Now was not the time for smartass comments.

"You shame the Organization." Apparently, he didn't hear her.

Larxene growled at him.

"How can we help you, Vexen? It's not very often we see you topside."

"I came to lend you a hand. Unlike _some_ people…"

Vexen glared at Nixa during the last comment. Nixa knew what he was referring to.

"What? You said that you were more than capable of handling it. I took your word for it. I don't know why you're complaining all of a sudden."

Vexen kept glaring at her, obviously displeased at having his words used against him.

Axel raised an eyebrow at Nixa, but didn't say anything about it. He made a plan to ask her about it later.

Vexen stopped glaring at her and continued on with what he was going to say.

"You obviously believe this Sora has much potential, but I remain unconvinced he is truly worth such coddling. I think an experiment would show if he really is of any value to us."

Everyone knew what Vexen wanted at this point.

"Hmph. Well, here we go again. It's just an excuse so you can carry out your little experiments. That's all."

Nixa nodded in agreement with Larxene, for once. It was true. This whole thing was an excuse and they all knew it.

"I'm a scientist. Experiments are what I do, yes."

That one comment from Vexen made Nixa glad that she was part of a study and not an experiment. Who knew what kind of weird crap Vexen would have put her through otherwise?

"Whatever. You can do what you want. But you know, I think testing Sora is just a cover for testing your valet."

Nixa was pretty sure that Axel had hit that one right on the nose.

"Valet? He's the product of pure research."

"What he actually is is a toy."

"Hmph. You should just learn to be quiet."

Larxene turned her head away from Vexen, not liking being told to be quiet.

"Anyway…Since you came all this way, you're gonna need this. A humble gift to my elder. I hope you use it to put on a very good show for us."

Nixa had no idea what Axel just gave Vexen. She doubted that they would tell her if she just simply asked them right now.

Then, she heard another set of steps somewhere on the other side of the room. Whoever was on the other side of the room felt similar to Riku, but she still knew that it wasn't him. So, who was it?

"That card holds the memories of Sora and Riku's home."

"It's just a card. What good is that?"

Okay. The mystery person sounded just like Riku, but it still didn't feel like him 100%. Plus, what was with the card? How could the card hold memories? Nixa wished that she wasn't being kept out of the loop here.

"With a little help from Namine, you'll have all the real Riku's memories. Maybe we can get her to make you forget you're nothing but a fake. In other words, we'll remake your heart so you can be exactly the same as the real Riku, 'kay?"

Okay, so there is a fake Riku in the room. That made sense. But, what was this with using Namine to remake his heart? Nixa had a feeling she was going to have a hundred different questions by the time they were done here.

"You want to remake my heart? The real Riku is a wimp who's afraid of the dark! What do I want with the heart of a loser?"

It was clear that the fake didn't like the idea.

Larxene, however, just continued on as though she hadn't been interrupted.

"Any objections, Vexen? After all, you do want to test Sora, don't you?"

"It must be done."

Nixa almost felt sorry for the fake…that was, if she was able to feel anything at all.

"How can you? Are you betraying me?"

"I told you I would make good use of you, didn't I?"

Nixa was, once again, glad that she was someone who was just studied and wasn't just a lab rat. She would _hate_ to be the fake Riku right now.

"No – "

"Relax, kiddo. I don't think it's going to hurt that much!"

The fake wasn't about to relent, though.

"I'll hurt YOU!"

Nixa sensed the dark aura surrounding him as he summoned his Keyblade, or, at least, a very convincing _fake_ Keyblade.

He then charged at Larxene. However, the fight was short-lived (actually, Nixa wouldn't even consider it a fight) as he was attacked and thrown across the room.

Larxene laughed.

"Stupid little toy! Think you could defeat me? Where would you ever get a thought like that?"

It was silent for a moment as the fake rolled onto his back and watched as Larxene walked towards him.

"But – look on the bright side. Along with everything else in your head, Namine will erase the memory of me knocking you flat. Instead, she will implant the loveliest little memories you could ever hope for!"

Again, Nixa had no idea what the whole deal with memories was, but she was tempted to find out.

"It's no big deal that they're all lies."

Nixa could feel fear building up in the replica's heart.

"No…"

Larxene walked towards him.

"NOOOOO!"

Okay, Nixa couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore.

"Damn Larxene! What are you doing? It sounds like you're about to rape the poor guy."

Larxene directed a glare her way, but, for anyone who could see, it also looked like she just now remembered that Nixa had been standing next to Axel the whole time.

"Shut up! You're not even supposed to be here. Shouldn't you be somewhere else?"

Ah, she should have figured that the moment anyone remembered she was there was the moment she would be asked to leave again.

"Well, you didn't have to be rude about it. Come on, Max."

Nixa and Max left before Larxene could retort.

Axel stared at the space where she stood a few seconds ago. He knew the whole conversation about memories probably confused her a bit and made her even more curious as to what they were doing. But, Axel couldn't let her get involved. If she had a more serious episode while in Marluxia's or Larxene's presence, they would try to break her down. He couldn't let that happen.

She was going to protest about this, but she wouldn't be hearing a word about this from him. The less she knew, the better.

**Well, what do you think? I'm not entirely sure that this went as well as the other chapters. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.**

**Also, don't forget to check out the FFVII Christmas one-shot and leave a review for that!**

**In case I don't update next in time to say this, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope you guys have fun this year!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again! I know I took a while with the update, but I did want you guys in Chapter 1 that I might take a while between updates. I'm hoping that you guys enjoyed the Christmas one-shot for FF7 I had posted over a month ago for those of you that checked it out. I also have an FF7 story now posted. It's called Monster. Don't worry! I will still update this story! I still have 4 other stories I'm working on, but I won't stop this story! **

**Well, anyway, it's Showtime! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for my OC Nixa and Max the wolf.**

Chapter 9

Nixa leaned against a wall as she pondered what she heard.

She was in one of the basement levels again and keeping tabs on Riku's whereabouts so that they wouldn't be surprised (hopefully).

Okay, this was what she had so far: Namine had the ability to create fake memories, which she had probably already done so for the fake Riku by now. Axel and Larxene had run into Sora and his friends at one point in this journey. Sora was trying to save Namine (she didn't know why). There was a fake Riku running around with a remade heart. And there were these cards that contained memories.

There still weren't enough details for Nixa to make much sense of any of this. Why were these cards needed? Why was Namine creating fake memories? Why was there a fake Riku? Just what the hell was Marluxia planning?

She knew that Axel told her that it was nothing for her to worry about, that she needed to stay out of it. But, there were too many questions and her curiosity was getting to her. Just why was this being kept a secret from her, anyway? What did Axel meant when he said that she would be in more trouble than she would think if she was caught?

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but that wasn't enough to stop her when she was a Somebody. It sure wasn't going to stop her now while she was a Nobody.

"Max, what do you make of all of this?"

Max sat down next to her after searching the room – which ended with the usual nothing – and pondered the question.

It was obvious that something was going on and that the others didn't want her in it. However, he wasn't sure if this was something that they needed to concern themselves with.

Yeah, people were sneaking around behind their backs, but Max remembered Axel when he was still Lea. He knew that Lea wouldn't have done something like this without a good reason (especially when he had to deal Nia when she found out that he had been hiding something from her).

She didn't like it when her friends hid things from her, but, maybe sometimes, not knowing was the best.

"You think we should stay out of it." It was a statement, not a question.

That was the benefit of someone who was able to read hearts. While she might not be able to get coherent sentences as she would if she was a mind reader, she still knew how a person felt overall as long as they had a heart to feel with. Since Max still had his heart, he didn't have to worry about how to communicate with her too much.

Max snorted, confirming what he was feeling.

Nixa sighed.

"I get where you're coming from with this. I also get that Axel may be keeping us out of the loop because he's worried about what might happen to us if we get too involved. At least, I'm pretty sure he's worried about something."

That was the problem with Nobodies. Since they didn't have hearts, she couldn't get a good read on any feelings that they were _trying_ (key word: trying) to have at the moment. She was normally able to get a good read on a person's intentions when she knew what they were feeling.

However, right now, she was only able to read the hearts of the Rikus, Sora and his friends, and Max because they were they only ones in the castle that had hearts.

But, she couldn't get a good read on Axel, when she used to know him well enough to know what he was thinking at almost any moment.

Max whined, hoping that she would just drop the matter. He didn't need anything else happening to her.

Nixa looked towards his way after reaching a decision.

"I just want to know what to whole deal with memories is. After that, I'll drop the whole matter and stay away from Marluxia, just as Axel wanted."

It wasn't really ideal for Max, but, since her stubbornness was something she didn't lose with her heart, he knew that this was the best that he could hope for.

He relented. Nixa nodded.

"Okay, so where should we start?"

….

"_Oof!" _

_Lea fell down and landed on his backside after running into something small. He was racing with Isa to see who would pay for the ice cream when he turned a corner and slammed into something._

_He looked up to see a girl who also fell from the collision. She looked younger than him by about two or three years. She had thick, short brown hair that was about jaw-length and her bangs were about an inch or two longer while framing her face. She wore a white, short-sleeved jacket with a blue-grey shirt underneath it. She also wore baggy black pants. _

_She opened her eyes to reveal confused chocolate brown eyes. _

"_Wait to go, Lea. You slammed into a girl." Isa had caught up to him at this time._

_Lea stood up and held out a hand to her._

"_Sorry about that. I was racing with my friend and wasn't paying attention to where I was going."_

_She looked up at him warily before taking his hand. As he helped her up, he heard other footsteps running their way._

"_Nia! Are you okay?"  
_

_Lea looked up to see another brown-haired girl. Her hair was longer and pulled back in a braid. She was being followed by a blonde, spiky-haired boy._

_The girl he ran into, Nia, turned around and nodded at the other two._

"_Yeah…I'm fine."_

_The other girl turned to face Lea._

"_You know you really should watch where you're going."_

_Lea nodded._

"_I know. I was just apologizing to her."_

_She nodded._

"_Good. My name's Aerith, by the way."_

_She motioned towards the blonde boy._

"_This is Cloud."_

_Then she motioned towards the girl he ran into._

"_And this is my sister, Nia."_

_Nia gave him a wave._

"_Hi."_

"_I'm Lea and this is Isa. Again, I'm sorry about running into you."_

_Nia shook her head._

"_That's okay. I know that it was just an accident."_

_She smiled at him. Lea scratched the back of his head._

_Suddenly, Aerith spoke up._

"_Well, we better head home, Nia. Otherwise Mom might get worried."_

_Nia nodded. She turned back to face Lea._

"_It was nice to meet you guys." With that, she turned around and left with Aerith and Cloud._

…..

"Hey Axel! Now's not the time for a nap!"

Axel woke up abruptly upon Larxene's shout. Damn. And he was enjoying the nap.

He looked up at the ceiling as he thought about what he could remember of the dream. It had been a long time since he had a dream about the past. He wondered what had brought up this particular moment to come in his dreams. Then he dismissed it. It was just a memory.

Of course, now it made him wonder what Nixa was up to now…

…..

"Okay, if there's nothing down here…who am I kidding? It isn't on this floor."

Max snorted in annoyance as well as they had, once again, come up with nothing resembling some big, secret chamber. Nixa was starting to wonder why anyone thought there was a chamber here in the first place.

"Well, I say we take a break, and then see what we can find out about what Marly's doing."

Nixa sensed Max coming towards her and was about to open a portal to take them to the 13th floor, but then, it felt like there was some kind of pressure pressing down on her chest.

At first, she thought nothing of it. Then, it turned into a suffocating feeling. Crap! She couldn't breathe!

Max looked up when he heard her struggling to breathe.

Crap! Why was this happening? She was just fine a minute ago.

He stood there, hating that there was nothing he could in this situation. All he could do was watch.

Nixa could feel herself falling, but for some reason, she didn't feel herself hit the ground.

She didn't know what was going on. All she could see was darkness (which wasn't anything different). All she could hear was her ragged breathing and the blood rushing in her ears. If she had a heart, she would have been scared. In fact, she was pretty sure that she was pretty close to feeling scared at the moment.

Then, suddenly, something transparent entered her line of sight.

Wait…sight? Was she actually seeing something?

Whatever it was, it disappeared before she could get over the shock and make sense of what it was she was seeing.

Then, she felt something cold against her side. It took her a moment to realize that she was lying on her side. She must have fallen to the ground. But, when did she fall to the ground? Why did she fall in the first place?

She tried to get up, only to find her arm wobbling as she tried to support herself. She felt weak. Her chest was also throbbing for some reason. What just happened?

Her arm gave out and she was lying on her side again.

She felt something breathing in her face. Another moment passed and she realized that it was Max. Right, he was walking towards her when…when…

Blank. She couldn't remember. What happened? She thought she remembered seeing something, but was that just a dream? At what point would she have started dreaming?

Max studied her carefully. She seemed to be okay. She just felt weak from the attack.

Nixa took in some deep breathes. She definitely needed to get to the 13th floor for rest. But, what floor was she on now?

Suddenly, she felt Max started to nudge her. There was a sense of urgency in his heart. They needed to get out of there. She mustered what strength she had to create a portal. Max, who had no intention of her getting caught like this by Marluxia and Larxene (he didn't trust them), he decided to go to a different floor.

Nixa wrapped an arm around his neck and he dragged her through the portal. Seconds after the portal dissipated, Riku ran through the doors and looked around. He could have sworn that he smelled the scent of the woman he saw earlier…

…

Max dragged Nixa into an empty floor. He was sure that she would be safe here. She just needed some time to recover.

Nixa laid there on the floor, trying to regain her strength. Why was this happening to her? She hadn't had problems like this in a long time. She wondered if it was because of the castle. She had heard that this castle was supposed to do something weird, but she didn't think that something like this would happen. If it was the castle that was causing this, then she needed her mission to be over and done with so that she could leave.

Max was starting to feel relieved. It looked like she was going to be okay after a few minutes. She just needed to rest and not be bothered.

That was when his head snapped up. Someone was coming up the stairs. Crap! He had accidentally led her to the wrong floor!

He turned around to face whoever was coming up the stairs while Nixa attempted to get up again.

…

"_Just relax. We're going to take some blood samples like the last time and then you can go." Ienzo stood there as he watched Nia sit patiently on the examination table, waiting to get the test over with._

_This was basically how things went. Every other week, Nia would be brought down into the lab and she would be asked a couple of questions, such as how she was doing, and had some blood drawn for testing._

_She had been staying at the castle for a few months now. She was always watched to see if any changes would happen in her behavior._

_From Ienzo's perspective, she seemed to be acting the same as always. She would seek him out to hang out with him and mess with him a bit. But…lately, she seemed a bit down about something. He tried to ask her about it earlier, but she would manage to beat him to the punch and find some way to distract him from his question. He doubted that he could find some way to gain the upper hand on someone who could read your heart (which, as she once told him, could never lie)._

_Ansem the Wise seemed to know that something was wrong as well. _

"_So Nia, how have you been?"_

_She shrugged._

"_Okay…"_

_Ansem only nodded. Ienzo figured he was going to try to gently pry the answer out of her after they got the blood for the blood work._

_Nia closed her eyes through the whole thing (she made it clear that she didn't like needles). However, when they were done, she appeared to have fallen asleep._

"_Nia, you can wake up now."_

_No response. She was still sitting up too. Ienzo wondered if she was talking with someone. She would sometimes do that whenever she had to wait for the testing to be done._

"_Nia, it's time to wake up."_

_Ansem gently shook her shoulders in an attempt to coax her out of her trance._

_Suddenly, she jolted awake. She looked around, gasping, clearly panicking. Something was wrong, and she was afraid. Her fear was clear in her bright green eyes. _

_And then she screamed._

**Okay, review time! What do you think? I'm sorry if this chapter seemed a bit shorter than usual, but this seemed like a good place to stop for now. I'm not entirely sure how well this actually turned out. I had to rewrite it once or twice because it didn't seem right. I'm hoping that this is okay.**

**I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. And, if you happen to be part of the US that is going through the ice storm that is passing through at this time, stay warm! And always have emergency supplies in your cars (such as blankets, water, food, etc.) in case you are unfortunate enough to get stuck out in the storm. However, I encourage that you stay inside, find a good book to read in case the power goes out as well as some flashlights, and have a nice cup of hot chocolate (unless your like a friend of mine who is allergic to caffeine, in which case find something else to drink).**

**Well, that is my service announcement for this week. Later!**


	10. Chapter 10

**HIIIIII! I'm back! Well, I'm hoping that the last chapter was good. Now to see what the heck is happening now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I have the DS games and (finally!) the PSP game with a PSP, but that's about it. I do own Nixa/Nia and Max.**

Chapter 10

Zexion stood there, contemplating. He wondered what had made that particular memory to come up for no apparent reason. Was it because of the recent incident with Nixa and Riku? He didn't know.

But, he was starting to wonder what was going on with Nixa now. She was almost caught by Riku again, which made him think that she had another episode.

_This isn't supposed to happen! Oh, why did this happen?_

He couldn't get the memory out of his head now.

_Oh, what do I do? What do I do? What do I dooooo?_

Now she moved to a different floor, but he could smell Sora's scent where she was as well. He knew Marluxia was up to something. Knowing Nixa, she would probably do something to gain unwanted attention from him. If it came to that, what should _he_ do?

…..

"WOW! The tenth floor…..We've gotten up pretty high." Sora, Donald, and Goofy were walking up the stairs to the tenth floor at this time.

"And that must mean we've lost ten whole floors' worth of our memories."

Jiminy turned to face Sora on his shoulder.

"Sora, it's still not too late. Don't you think we should turn back?"

Sora looked down as he climbed the last couple of steps.

"Can't do it…..because…..that would break – "

"WAAK!"

Sora looked up as he reached the top step to see what was wrong. In the middle of the room was a big, ferocious-looking wolf who was growling at them while a black-cloaked woman was getting up.

Sora summoned his Keyblade, recognizing the woman as one of them.

Nixa was a bit disoriented when she tried to get up, but she stopped herself at a sitting position when she sensed that she and Max weren't alone.

"Who's there?"

"Don't give us any of that! You're one of them!"

"You work with Axel and Larxene!"

Oh crap. She recognized the voices. They were Sora's friends. And now that a bit of the disorientation was wearing off, she could sense Sora running up to join them.

"Where's Riku? And where are you keeping Namine?"

Nixa stared in their direction. Then she started to attempt to stand. Max stood by her side in case she needed some support.

"What makes you think I know anything? And what makes you arrive to the conclusion that I work with those you ran into?"

She could feel one of Sora's friends getting agitated.

"You're wearing the same clothes as them! That's how we know!"

Nixa frowned. Yeah, she was given a set of clothes on her first day, but how the heck was she supposed to know that everyone wore the same thing?

"I am? No one told me that before."

The agitated one was getting more agitated (she was pretty sure he could use a chill pill once in a while).

"Don't give us any of that! Don't pretend that you can't see!"

She glared at this friend. Max growled at him as well. Just because he could use magic didn't mean that he still wouldn't attack the duck.

"Who's pretending?"

"Wait there a minute, you're actually blind?" This response came from the other friend. This one wasn't as strung-up as the other.

"Yep. Been blind for a while now."

She could sense shock coming from them, and then sympathy coming from Sora.

Then, she heard something bouncing around. She kept turning her head towards the sound, only for it to appear on the other side.

Sora watched as Jiminy bounced around in front of her. She kept turning her head towards the sound, but her eyes didn't follow him.

After a moment, she detected a small heart coming from the source of the bouncing. She was able to follow his path then.

"Who's bouncing around?"

Jiminy jumped back onto Sora's shoulder.

"Yep, she is indeed blind. But, how were you able to follow me towards the end?"

She waited a moment before answering. For some reason, she seemed a bit unsteady on her feet.

"Because I can sense your heart."

This struck Sora as odd.

"Huh?"

Donald shook his head.

"Hey! What are we doing standing around here for?"

Sora then remembered what he wanted to get out of the woman.

"Right. Now tell me, where's Namine?"

Nixa gave him her best poker face.

"Namine? What do you want with her?"

This wasn't how she wanted to go about things, but since she got caught, she might as well ask.

"Don't change the subject! You're going to tell me where she is! And where Riku is too!"

Nixa sighed.

"Sorry, but you're going to have to beat the answers out of me."

Sora tensed as he heard that, but was confused when she didn't call out her weapon.

"…..That's want you expect me to say, isn't it? Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not here for a fight."

She was finally able to stand straight on her feet now.

"Fact is, I'm not even here for you, so don't flatter yourself."

"Huh?"

He was confused. She could feel that.

"Well, what are you here for?" Goofy seemed to be the only one truly curious about that at the time.

"What I'm here for is my business. Besides, I still don't know what your business with Namine is."

Sora let out a growl.

"I'm here to rescue her! I have a promise I have to keep!"

Promise? What promise could he have made with a Nobody?

"Well, while I don't know about any promises you may or may not have made, I do know that that tough front that I'm sure you're trying to put up now isn't going to work on me."

Sora was surprised. What was she talking about?

"You are actually confused as to what is going on. You are angry and frustrated because you are not getting any straight answers to your questions. You are worried about your friends and Namine. You are also desperate to save her."

It was silent for a moment. Everyone was confused. No one knew how to address this. When Sora opened his mouth to say something, she spoke again.

"And no, I'm not a mind reader. If I was, you could have probably tricked me if you tried hard enough to think of yourself as tough, as someone who refused to let their confusion show. But, I'm not. What I read was your heart, and the heart never lies."

She was starting to feel better now. She should be able to leave soon. She looked towards Max to let him know to get ready to go soon.

"Wait a minute!"

Nixa turned her attention to the smallest person in the room, who was very close to Sora.

"If you can read hearts, can you read the memories that the heart holds?"

She looked towards him with wide eyes. She had never been asked that before. She had tried something like that before, but nobody had ever bothered to ask her if she could do it.

"…I have done something like that before, but only once or twice. And it's mainly the memories that the heart holds dear to it, so it's not like I can get a person's life story or anything. Why do you ask?"

"Well, as you already know, we've been losing our memories as we go up each floor."

No, she didn't know that, but, from the sound of it, everybody _else_ knew that if he assumed that she knew as well.

"Not only that, but Sora has been gaining memories of Namine as we go up as well."

Something told her that Sora's memories of Namine and Namine's ability to create fake memories was hardly a coincidence. What person has memories of a Nobody? Just what was Marluxia up to…?

"So I was wondering if you can see what memories we still have."

She stared at them. Just what were they expecting?

"What would be the point in me doing this? Can you not summon the memories yourselves?"

"Well, can you do it, or can't you?" Sora was getting impatient with her.

There was a moment of silence. Then, she sighed.

"Fine, but I can only do it for one person. I'm not feeling all that well, as you could tell earlier."

"How could you tell that we could tell?" Goofy still didn't get it.

"Your hearts can't lie, remember?"

"Oh yeah…."

"I say you read Sora's heart, then." Jiminy piped up.

"I agree." Donald had no problem with that arrangement.

Goofy nodded his agreement as well.

"Well, it's agreed then. So, are you gonna read my memories or not?"

Nixa pinched the bridge of her nose. Then, she shook her head and smirked.

"You actually are just like him. Although, that's really no surprise…."

"What are you talking about?"

She shook her head.

"It's nothing….now, about those memories of yours…"

…

"So what's going on, Vexen? Your Riku was supposed to counter Sora. What's he waiting for? Where is he?"

Vexen was getting mad.

"He's hiding somewhere to lure Sora deeper into the castle, right? I suppose we should just leave it at that, you know."

"A-ha! Oh, I see now! I would never have guessed that. So sorry, Vexen."

"Silence!"

Yep, he was mad now. Axel couldn't help but wish that Nixa was there right now. She would have had fun doing this as well. She probably would have said something to make him add an "I KILL YOU!" in that response.

Larxene, however, wasn't surprised by his predictable reaction.

"Predictable response. Forget it. Men without hearts are so boring."

"You're one to talk. As if you have such a heart to speak of yourself."

"That's enough."

Of course, here came the reason that made Axel glad that Nixa wasn't in the room now. She was a lot safer being far away from this situation.

"Marluxia!"

Marluxia flipped his hood back, making a couple of petals float through the air as he did so. Axel couldn't help but think that Marluxia would have done well as a girl. Of course, that thought made him remember the Grim Reaper comment Nixa once made. Now he had to focus on keeping a straight face.

Marluxia didn't look like he was in the mood to be reminded of that.

"Vexen, the simple fact is that your project was a failure. You'd best not disappoint us again."

Of course, Vexen didn't take to that comment well.

"Disappoint YOU? You go too far! In this Organization, you're No. 11! I'm No. 4 and I will not have you – "

In the next second, Vexen found himself staring at the business end of a scythe.

"I've been entrusted this castle and Namine by our leader. Defying me will be seen as treason against the Organization."

"'Traitors are eliminated.' I believe that's what the rules say."

"Who need a half-baked good-for-nothing, anyway?"

"Ng…." Vexen was definitely not pleased by Axel and Larxene's lack of support for him.

"Vexen, you cannot win against Sora."

Vexen smirked.

"Pity to be so ignorant. As you're only able to see the surface of things. I should not expect you to appreciate my true might."

"Oh?" Marluxia made his scythe disappear into a bunch of flower petals.

"Then let us watch as you prove it."

"What?"

Marluxia turned his back to Vexen.

"None of us wish to be suspicious of a comrade."

"Your insincerity is comforting," Vexen said sarcastically as he left.

This made Axel wonder what Marluxia was thinking.

"You give a challenge like that to Vexen and he'll seriously want to eliminate Sora."

"That would be an unfortunate denouement."

Axel watched as Marluxia walked over towards Namine and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What to do? Your hero is soon to be wiped from existence. But I believe there is a certain promise that he made you. Isn't that right, Namine?"

"….Yes." Namine really didn't want to keep deceiving Sora like this.

As he walked away from Namine, he turned his attention to Axel.

"By the way, I believe your friend is in danger of becoming a traitor as well."

Axel's head snapped up. What was he talking about? Please tell him that he wasn't talking about Nixa.

"It seems that Nixa had another attack while in one of the basement levels. She managed to leave before Riku reached her, but…."

At this, he turned towards the crystal ball and showed what was going on now.

"She has let herself get caught by Sora. Now, we all know that she has been given orders not to interfere."

Axel watched as Nixa got up only to stand on unsteady feet. Damn it. He told her not to get anywhere near this. What was she doing there? And in that condition, no less.

He was thinking of what to do. If Marluxia sent him to get her, there was a chance it was on the order to eliminate her. What should he do? There had to be a way to get her out of there without Marluxia getting her.

…

"Hmmmmmm….."

"Well?"

Nixa was starting to feel tired. Reading hearts normally didn't take a whole lot of energy. But, delving deep into them in search of something specific did for some reason. Although, just searching for memories probably wasn't really specific. It still took some energy out of her, and she was still recovering.

It didn't really help that there seemed to be some kind of problem with the memories in his heart.

"Gaaah, that's my limit for now." She had to stop. She was starting to feel unsteady again. Max stood closer to her to lend her some support, which she gladly accepted.

"Well?"

"To be honest, I can't tell what it is you're supposed to be remembering. Or if you're even remembering anything _correctly_ for that matter. Your heart right now is just a jumbled mess and I don't have the energy right now to sort it."

Sora seemed confused about something.

"Correctly? How can I remember something the wrong way?"

She sighed.

"That really is a matter of perspective. Some people tend to remember something one way while others would remember it another. But that's not really what your problem is. Your problem is that there is something jacked up in there!"

This didn't help Sora's confusion. She had a feeling that this was Namine's doing, but she was sure that, if Axel was watching right now, she would get an earful as it was already.

"How can something be messed up? Can't you fix it?"

This kid just didn't know when to give up. That would probably help him in the long run, but it wasn't helping either of them now.

"That's not exactly how I do things. Or, at least, I've never done it before. But, you're out of luck. I'm too tired."

"Uh, you've been tired since before we got here. Exactly what happened to make you so tired?"

She stared at the one who was apparently called "Goofy". Why ask someone who was apparently the enemy that?

However, she didn't have a chance to respond to that as a portal had opened right next to her and Max.

**Cliffhanger!...sort of. Cookies for those of you who caught the Jeff Dunham reference! **

**Well, as usual, reviews are what help move the story along. See ya next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello! Here with Chapter 11! Yay! Well, I don't really have anything to mention before the chapter, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Nixa/Nia and Max.**

Chapter 11

Everyone's eyes were on the portal. Nobody moved as the cloaked figure stepped out. Whoever it was kept the portal opened as the person looked around to take in the scene.

The person kept his hood up, so Sora couldn't tell if it was someone he knew. He didn't notice that Nixa, who had tensed up at the sound of the portal opening, had allowed herself to relax.

Finally, the hooded figure turned towards her.

"Nixa, you have other orders. What are you doing here?"

Sora glanced over at her to see her shrug.

"Sorry, man. I got caught and wasn't able to leave. And before you ask, I'm not in much of a condition to teleport out of here or to try to outrun someone when the stairs," she pointed in the direction of Sora and his friends, "are blocked. That door," she stuck her thumb at behind her, "is locked and no one ever gave me a freaking key. So basically, I was stuck."

The figure said nothing. He only turned around and gestured towards the portal.

"In any case, we need to leave. You're in enough trouble as it is."

She just shrugged. Sora watched as the figure and the wolf walked through the portal, and the woman was about to leave with them until he shouted out.

"Wait!"

The woman stopped and looked over towards him. If she was able to see, she would have seen a tough and defiant look on his face that demanded that she stayed to answer the rest of his questions. But, she couldn't. Instead, she just smiled at him and gave him a small wave.

"Later." With that, she stepped through the portal and it closed, leaving Sora and his friends by themselves on the tenth floor.

"Hmmmmmm….."

"What is it, Goofy?" Donald turned to face Goofy to see that he was thinking about something.

"Well, I wonder what that guy meant when he said that she was in trouble. I mean, why would she be in trouble if all she did was run into us?"

Donald shook his head.

"That's none of our concern! For all we know, this doesn't have anything to do with us. Since her problem has nothing to do with us, we should be focusing on finding the king and Riku."

Sora nodded.

"Yeah, Donald's right. She's one of them. Her problems probably have nothing to do with us. We need to go."

Despite what he said, he still couldn't get her words out of his head.

_Your problem is that there is something jacked up in there!_

Just why would his heart be a jumbled mess when his memories have been coming back to him so clearly?

Finally, he shook his head. She was probably lying. It wouldn't be the first time that someone had tried to play mind tricks on him. Yeah, that was probably it.

…

A portal opened in an empty room. Max stepped out of the portal, followed by the hooded figure. Nixa stepped out a moment later and patted the person's back.

"Thanks man. I owe you one."

Zexion removed his hood and turned to look at Nixa.

"Yes, you do. Starting with an explanation. Why were you with Sora?"

Nixa shrugged.

"It wasn't by choice. I was in one of the basement levels when I passed out again. I felt really weak from it this time. When I came to, Max was telling me that we had to get going. I guess that Riku was almost there or something. I opened a portal and Max dragged me to that floor to rest since I wouldn't have been able to open another portal in that state. Unfortunately, we got to that floor at the same time Sora was getting there. So, with no energy to run, let alone open another Corridor of Darkness, I was basically stuck there to encounter Sora and his group."

Zexion stood there for a moment as he absorbed the information. Then he sighed.

"Just be glad that I'm the one who got you out of there instead of Marluxia. I suspect that he and Larxene are planning to betray the Organization by using Sora."

Nixa blinked.

"Okay, for one thing, I am glad that you got me out of there. What do you think the pat on the back was for? And how do you know if Marluxia is planning on betraying the Organization?" This was news to her. She was thinking that the whole thing with Sora was all under the Superior's orders. Now it sounded like she made a mistake by making the assumption.

"Marluxia is using Namine to rearrange Sora's memories so that he will become his puppet. So far, it seems like he's succeeding. His and Larxene's actions have been making me uneasy, so I'm sure that they're planning to betray us. I could say the same thing about Axel, but who knows whatever he's thinking."

Nixa's breath caught at the accusation towards Axel. Marluxia and Larxene becoming traitors she could see happening, but Axel? No, she knew him. He wouldn't do such a thing. The whole reason he joined was to regain his heart, so why would he risk throwing that chance away? Clearly, Zexion had to be mistaken.

"…..I see." She was going to confront Axel about this later. But, at least now she knew why memories seemed to be the main theme for what was going on in the castle and why the memories in Sora's heart were a jumbled mess now. It was starting to make sense now.

She planned to pursue this further...after she had some rest. As she stood now, she wouldn't last long in a fight if she got caught in one.

"Is there some place down here where I can take a nap? I'm a bit worn out from everything now." She needed to ask because she'd never stayed in the basement long enough to learn the layout.

Zexion nodded.

"It's through that door over there," he pointed at said door. He knew she couldn't see, but that was for Max's benefit.

"Max will show you the way."

Nixa nodded as she curled her fingers into Max's fur and let him guide her over to the other room.

Zexion watched until the door had shut behind them. Then he looked down at the ground. Nixa's attacks were getting worse by the sound of it. But what was the cause? Was there something about the castle that was doing this to her? He didn't get it. He was the one controlling all of the illusions in the castle, and he knew his illusions didn't affect her from their earlier missions. Something else was in play now, but what?

Unfortunately, now wasn't the time to think about it. The sooner they could bring Marluxia down and get Nixa out of the castle for further observations, the better.

…

_Nia was staring at the fountains as they shot water up into the air. She always liked going to the Fountain Court whenever she wanted to think or to just have a moment of peace. Right now, it was both._

_She couldn't help but think about that boy she accidentally ran into a week ago. For some reason or another, they kept running into each other. Not like the first time, but more like they would occasionally see each other on the street. She sensed curiosity in his heart. It was as if he wanted to figure out more about her now that they were aware of each other._

_Nia kind of wanted to get to know him more as well, seeing that the two of them had apparently lived in the same town and had not notice each other before. She'd normally would have given in to her curiosity by now and just hang out with the boy more to learn more about him. _

_But, some memories were still fresh, even though it had been a while._

"_I thought we would find you here."_

_Nia looked up to see her sister, Aerith. Standing next to her was Cloud. They both had smiles on their faces, but she could sense their concern. She knew why. She had started hiding again._

_Aerith took a seat next to her on the bridge and let her legs dangle over the edge like Nia was doing. Cloud just continued to stand there._

"_Is something wrong?" Despite the fact that Aerith couldn't do what she could, she was still able to read Nia very well. _

_Nia sighed._

"_I don't know, it's just….." She wasn't able to lie to her, but she couldn't begin to voice her problems for some reason. Good thing for her that she didn't have to._

"_Is it about Lea? He's been trying to get you to hang out with him a couple of times. He's nice, isn't he?" As of now, only three people knew her secret. That was her sister and their mom and Cloud. Nobody outside of the family knew about it. Except for Cloud, that was. _

_Nia understood that she was talking about how his heart felt._

"_Yeah, he seemed very nice. There was a nice light coming from him, but….." She still couldn't get the memories to leave her alone completely._

"_Well, why don't you give him a chance then? You don't want to close up again, do you?"_

_Nia shook her head. She still felt bad about the last time she did that._

"_Then try to get to know him. You don't have to tell him anything. You have a strong light, but if you close up again, it'll weaken. You have to try to make your light stronger if you want to be able to continue to help them."_

_Nia knew that she was right. She knew that Cloud felt the same, but he also understood if she didn't want to tell. It took her a long while before she even let Aerith tell him about it, even though he was their first friend after they had moved into the new house._

_Nia looked down while she thought about it. She didn't want to fall into the dark hole she fell into before. _

"…_..I'll think about it."_

_Aerith smiled, knowing that she was at least considering getting to know new people._

"_Who knows, maybe you two will be the best of friends."_

_Nia smiled a bit. While she wasn't sure about being the "best of friends", she did want to know more about him._

…

Nixa woke up after who knew how long. What was with her and memory lane lately? She sat up, finally recovered from her last episode. She stretched as she got up and started walking in the direction she sensed Zexion in…only to come in contact with the wall.

She took a step back, the remnants of sleep finally disappearing from her mind. Oh, right. She had walked into a different room in the basement before going to sleep.

Max, who was lying over in one corner of the room, saw that she was awake and was trying to get to Zexion, who was in the other room. He got up and walked over to her. Neither of them spent a whole lot of time in the part of the basement where the underground group stayed, so Nixa still needed Max's help with navigating around this level.

Nixa sensed Max next to her and curled her fingers into his fur so that he could lead her out. She honestly thought she felt (yeah Nobodies couldn't feel, but still) a bit embarrassed about walking into the wall. Yeah, she was blind and half-asleep, but _still_. She walked into a _wall_. She was just glad that Max was the only witness because, had it been Axel, she would have had to do something to keep his mouth shut about it.

They finally made it into the room where Zexion was. He was being really quiet, but that wasn't really anything new.

She'd let go of Max, since she was sure there was nothing to trip over in the room, and started to walk towards Zexion. She was planning on getting some updates as to what was going on and maybe even mess with him a bit.

Just as she was about to greet him, he gasped. Nixa frowned.

"What's – "

Suddenly, it had hit her as well. Something…..was off. It felt as though something had just vanished. She wasn't sure what it was, but there was something missing now. It was as though a slight chill had disappeared….

Just as she was about to voice her thoughts, she was interrupted again by the sound of a portal opening.

"Vexen is no more," Lexaeus said upon entering. Nixa now understood why it felt as though something disappeared. It was because someone did. The fact that one of them was struck down made her feel….

Okay, she honestly didn't feel anything. She knew that was expected of a Nobody, but she still thought that she should feel even a _little_ something about the news. But, she just felt nothing, indifferent. Even though she wasn't overly fond of Vexen, she found it very disturbing that she was indifferent to this. It made her start hoping that she wouldn't have to wait too long to regain her heart.

"Yes, his scent is gone. Axel struck him down….something I find deplorable – Agents of the Organization striking each other down."

Wait, Axel did what?

**I hoped you liked this chapter. I have been tired and busy (mainly tired) lately, so I haven't been getting onto Word to update my stories as often as I would like. I don't know when the next update will be, but it is unlikely that it will be within the next week, since I have a test and a quiz to study for. It will ESPECIALLY be unlikely this weekend since I'm going to mess with my sleep schedule with an all-nighter.**

**The reason for the all-nighter is because of a 12 hour long mini-game for HvZ (Humans vs. Zombies). For those of you that haven't heard of this game before, it's basically a game of tag. Some people are zombies and they try to tag you to turn you into a zombie. The only way to stun them for a few minutes is by shooting them with a Nerf gun or hitting them with a sock bomb (a balled up sock).**

**So yeah, it is a game of tag that involves NERF GUNS! Doesn't that sound awesome? The game is pretty fun. Get to go on missions and try to survive the night outdoors with zombies hiding in bushes and in trees (beware of the tree zombies. They really will jump you). My only problem would be surviving until 7 am the next morning, since the game is from dusk to dawn. My guess is that I'll last maybe one or two hours (at most) running for my life, and then I would spend the rest of the night hunting for other people's lives. It's fun either way. I just hope that my gun doesn't jam or that my aim doesn't suck TOO badly this time around (it sucks when you turn around to get one shot in only to miss and then get tagged the next second). **

**So yeah, if I don't update for the next week or so, it will be more than likely because of the messed up sleep schedule I'll have because of that (and with 9 am classes too -_-). **

**Well, I've kept you here long enough (assuming that you're actually reading this). So please, leave a review saying how you think about the chapter. Reviews may or may not help me fight sleep deprivation sooner to get out the next update.**

**Peace out!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I know I've been taking my time between updates. It's not really that my muse disappeared, but that my mind is getting ahead of itself. I keep getting ideas for what to do farther into the story, but because of that I've been having some difficulty trying to think of my plan for RIGHT NOW in the story. I need to slow down (I should probably cut back on my caffeine intake). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (otherwise I wouldn't need to get a job soon). I do own Nixa and Max.**

Chapter 12

"What are you – WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE?" Sora was outraged. He didn't need Nixa's ability to know that.

"Hmph." Axel looked down for a moment before looking back up to answer.

"Don't know. I wonder about that myself." With that, he left Sora in Twilight Town via portal.

He knew that it wouldn't take Nixa too long to sense that someone had disappeared. He just hoped that she wouldn't know why Vexen was exterminated, or, more importantly, by whom.

….

He was lying. He had to be lying. That was the only explanation for this. Zexion must be lying. There was no way that Axel killed Vexen. That just wasn't him!

She could still remember the light that used to shine from him. Axel couldn't have killed anyone!

_The person you are remembering is Lea. Axel is a different person. You don't know him at all._

Ever had a voice that spoke up from the back of your head and spout what sounded like the truth? Well, she didn't know what that voice was talking about. Axel was Lea. He was just without his heart. Hopefully, she would be able to find that for him and give it back to him like she swore she would.

_Quit deluding yourself. You're just making excuses now. Lea doesn't exist anymore. Accept it and get over it._

She shook her head. What that voice needed to do was to shut up because it was lying to her like Zexion was.

_What reason does he have to lie?_

SHUT UP!

"Riku…of course."

Nixa snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Zexion mention Riku.

"What?"

Zexion looked towards Nixa to see that she was frowning. Lexaeus spoke up to reiterate what he already said.

"Sora is the light that is losing its path. We need to make use of the darkness. In other words, Riku."

Nixa blinked. First Sora was going through a bunch of crap because of Marluxia and his traitorous actions, now Riku was going to be involved in the mess. What else was next?

She had a feeling that she was going to regret asking that.

After Lexaeus and Zexion went back to talking about stuff that she wasn't paying attention to, she returned to her original thought.

…No…There was no way that Axel was a murderer.

After Lexaeus had left, Zexion studied her countenance as she was thinking. He was wondering what she was thinking. He knew that she and Axel had been friends ever since before they became Nobodies. Did she find the fact that Axel was striking down other members disturbing? It could be. She never liked the thought of doubting those she trusted, but that was probably because she knew by reading their hearts that she could trust them. But, what about Nobodies? She couldn't read them now like she could then, right? Maybe she was relying on her memories from before to trust them now. That would make sense. But, if Axel was against them now, and she refused to doubt him even though she couldn't read him, would she turn against them as well?

Zexion couldn't allow that. She had to remain on the same side as the Organization.

After what felt like a long time, Nixa turned her head in Zexion's direction.

"…..Why would you lie like that?"

The question threw him off.

"What are you talking about?" What did he lie about?

Nixa narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm talking about you saying that Axel killed Vexen. Why would you say that? He would never do that."

Great, she was in denial.

"I didn't lie. It's the truth. Axel struck down Vexen during an encounter with Sora. I detected the scents myself – "

"That's not true! He wouldn't do that!" The look in her sightless eyes meant that she was reverting to her stubborn self. This was going to be difficult.

"Nixa, you're being biased here. You refused to believe it because of your past friendship with his Somebody. But, the truth is that you are remembering Lea. Axel is a different person. We are all different from – "

"No you're not! You're still the same quiet kid that I used to hang out with when I was in the castle at Radiant Garden! You are all the same! You're just missing – "

"Our hearts, which was what made us ourselves then. Without them, we are only a shell, a mere husk of our former selves. Face it. You refuse to believe the truth because you are relying on your memories of Lea. You probably don't know much about Axel himself because you jumped to the conclusion that we haven't changed at all since then."

Silence followed in the moments after Zexion finished speaking. Nixa's fists were clenched tightly, although she never noticed when she did that.

_He's telling the truth. You know this. You're just being too stubborn to accept it like the child you are._

Did that voice ever knew when to shut the hell up?

Zexion watched as she lowered her head, jaw and fists clenched and trembling for some reason. He knew he had to approach with caution now. Who knew how she would react now?

"This may be harsh, but it is the truth. I had to tell it to you because I don't want you to do anything reckless that would cause the Organization to order your termination because you can't let go of the past."

Nixa snapped her head up. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew better, he would have said that, judging from the look in her eyes, she was hurt and mad as hell.

"…..Come on, Max." She didn't spare Zexion another word. She just opened another portal and left with Max, leaving Zexion alone in the basement.

…..

"Look, we don't have time to sit around. So let's GO." Sora was getting frustrated. Namine was in trouble and Donald and Goofy wanted to use time that they didn't have to sit back and think about something that didn't matter.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other worriedly. Sora was changing before their eyes and they didn't know what to do.

Goofy was the first to speak.

"Sora, what happened to ya?"

"What's THAT mean?"

"Well, ya always get real touchy when it comes to stuff about Namine….But before we came to this castle, you didn't even remember what her name was."

"Now Namine is the only thing you talk about."

"It doesn't make sense. Maybe you should just slow down and think ahead about some of these things."

Sora only grew more infuriated with his friends as they went on.

"Think ahead? What is the matter with you guys? Do you want me to abandon her?"

"No, that's not it."

"I think maybe we should consider what that one woman said."

"What woman?" Sora and Donald turned to Goofy at his suggestion.

"Well, you remember, doncha? She was blind and had a scary-looking wolf with her."

"Oh yeah, I remember her," Donald nodded in acknowledgement. "What about what she said?"

"Well, don't you remember? She said that there was something messed up with the memories in your heart, Sora. I think that she might have been telling the truth."

"What? You think there is something wrong with my heart?" Sora snapped at him, making Goofy flinched.

"There is nothing wrong with my heart! And she said that the heart never lies! So if anything, that only _proves_ that my memories of Namine are true!"

"But Sora, she said she couldn't sort out your heart. She couldn't tell if the memories were correct or not. The heart may not lie, but what if it's not a matter of lying? Maybe we should find her and see what she says. She said that she wasn't here for us. The fact that we haven't seen her since makes me think that maybe she was being honest."

Donald looked down in contemplation.

"I think maybe Goofy's right. Her words are the only ones that make sense now."

Sora looked between his two friends angrily. Finally, he snapped at the both of them.

"You want to look for some woman who's on the same side as Axel and Larxene to ask her for more lies! There is nothing wrong with my memories of Namine! But if you think that one of her captors is actually more trustworthy than my heart, then do whatever you want! You can lay back and take a nap for all I care! I'M going to find Namine!" With that, Sora ran up the stairs and left his friends behind.

"Sora!"

…..

On the middle of the staircase between the 12th and the 13th floor of the upper levels sat Nixa and Max. Nixa didn't want to be anywhere near Zexion at the moment and she wanted to be alone, so she didn't go to that room where she knew she would meet up with Axel.

She wondered if Axel was starting to worry about her. She hadn't seen him since when Vexen introduced his fake Riku to everyone. And it was likely that he saw her encounter with Sora with that big crystal ball in the middle of the room. Then she shook her head. Axel said that they couldn't feel, so he wouldn't be worrying over her, at least not technically. But still, this was her friend she was talking about. One of the few that had her back and was always worried about her when she took part in that study when they had hearts. She had a hard time believing that he still wouldn't worry about her. Why else would he repeatedly tell her to stay away from Marluxia and keep things from her, even if she didn't like it?

That was why she was having a hard time picturing him as a killer. Emotionless or not, she had never seen him as the kind of person who would do such a thing.

Right, so the conclusion was that Zexion, for reasons unknown but they had better be damn good reasons, was lying to her and Axel was innocent. She could go back up to the 13th floor and hang out with him (regardless of the orders) like back when they were kids.

…All she needed to do was move from her spot on the stairs and create a portal.

…..Anytime now.

…She just had to get up.

…..Why wouldn't she get up?

_Stupid girl. You're afraid of the truth. You're afraid that you'll go just to see that Zexion never lied to you._

And the voice came back. Great. Just what she needed.

_Stop being such a child. You aren't even supposed to feel in the first place. So why do you act like you feel fear from what you may find out._

She was going to ignore it. If she ignored it, it would go away. That was the general rule for this, right?

_Wrong._

SHUT THE HELL UP!

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she barely noticed when Max started nudging her side.

She snapped out of her frustration to realize that she had overlooked what was going on down the stairs.

Signaling to Max to follow, she crept down the stairs towards the disturbance while up against the wall on one side of the staircase (and praying that she was either in the shadows or that no one would notice her anyway). Now that her senses were opened, she sensed that there were three people down there: Sora, Namine, and the fake Riku. She knew it was the fake one for two reasons. 1) This was the 12th floor and the real Riku was in the basement. 2) Despite being similar to the real Riku, this one was still missing something. Something that the real Riku had and he didn't. She didn't know what it was, but she could still tell whether or not it was there.

"Want some more!" With that, Nixa sensed a flash of energy before hearing Sora cry out and fall to the ground.

"Sora!" Despite not having a heart, she could sense just a bit of worry and desperation in Namine. She wanted the fight to stop.

Riku stood up and walked towards Sora, feeling confident that he had won.

"Riku…." Sora looked up at him from his spot on the ground.

"Looks like I win."

"Riku, stop!" Namine was starting to feel more desperate. Nixa was debating about doing something. Sora was weak from the fight that had been going on. He wouldn't stand a chance against a fake in his current condition.

"You are through!" Riku raised his weapon above his head, ready to strike.

Right when Nixa was about to summon her weapon and intervene, Namine had cried out.

"I said STOP!"

Just like that, something in him broke. Nixa stayed in her place on the stairs. His heart was just….gone. It was there one second, and then gone the next. She couldn't sense it anymore. What caused this?

"Riku….?" Sora stared at the nonmoving body of his friend on the ground. What just happened to him? Then he realized that he wasn't responding.

"Riku! RIKU!" Still no response. He wouldn't get up. Sora then turned his attention to Namine.

"What did you do? What did you do to him?"

Right at that moment, a portal had opened in the room. Nixa tensed as she felt the static charge in the room build up. Larxene had shown up.

**And that will be all for now. I think this came out nicely. At least, I think it did. As always, reviews are welcomed. **

**And for any of you who have been following my Bleach fic, fear not. I am going to jump right back on that. I will be posting another chapter for that soon. I just don't have a specific date, but I have kept you guys waiting way too long. **

**And don't worry KH fans. I'm not going to ignore this fic either. I just need to pay some attention to a seriously neglected story. I will still update this one.**

**Now, in the words of the Terminator: I'll be back!**


	13. Chapter 13

**And we are at number Roxas….I mean, 13. The funny thing is that Roxas isn't even in this chapter. I know I said that I was going to go back to Bleach, but when I looked over the first few chapters…..I cringed. I really feel that I should improve the beginning of that story before I can move forward with it. It won't affect what happens later in the story. I just feel that it could go a lot better.**

**Anyway, if you're reading this, you're more interested in what happens now in the KH fic. So, here ya go!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Nixa and Max, so hands off!**

Chapter 13

"Broke his heart. I'd say more like she smashed it, really." Larxene stood there, hands on her hips, smirking at the hero who still sat on his knees on the floor in front of his fallen "friend".

Sora couldn't quite grasp the meaning of her words.

"Smashed….his heart? Then….what's gonna….what's gonna happen to Riku?" Sora stood up, not understanding the situation. This couldn't be the end, could it? It couldn't be! He promised that he would come back to the islands with Riku.

Larxene just laughed at him. Clearly, he was amusing her.

"Oh, you're so much fun to watch. If it's Riku you're worried about, then don't. Because, Riku was never really here."

"What do you mean?" What was Larxene going on about? Riku was right there!

"Do you really think I'm just gonna say it? That's too easy! Oh, what to do?"

"Quit the games!" Nixa could feel Sora's rage from where she stood on the stairs as he charged forward at Larxene and slashed at her. She stepped back to dodge the attack, and countered it by lifting her leg and kicking him with enough force to send him back a few feet.

Larxene sighed.

"All right, have it your way, then. I know it'll kill you to hear this, but I think I can live with that."

Sora struggled to get up, but he was having a hard time after that last kick. Nixa stood by, listening as this exchange went on. She didn't know what Larxene was going to say, but she had a feeling that she should probably interfere soon.

"That thing lying there is just a puppet that Vexen made as an experiment. No more than a toy. It's laughable, really. It called you a fake, but IT was a fabrication all along."

So, she was going to drop THAT bomb on the kid.

"Not Riku? A fake?" What was she talking about? The words weren't quite sinking into Sora's brain.

"Fake in every possible way. It was only finished recently. How could it remember anything?"

Larxene turned around and picked up the fake Riku with one hand by the back of his collar. She turned back around to face Sora with the unconscious puppet in hand.

"You get it? Its memories with Namine were just planted, not real." She shook the puppet a bit and then him across the room, where he landed on the floor with a thud.

"Yup. That means, all this time, it's been picking fights with you over memories that were counterfeit, trumped up, and completely bogus."

Larxene turned and walked towards Namine, who was looking down at the ground and her hands folded over her chest.

"Isn't that the truth, Namine?" Larxene then bent down and cupped Namine's chin with one hand and brought her face up to look her in the eyes.

"Oh, so cute…..but behind this little face, you do awful things." Namine turned her head out of her grip.

"Namine…." Sora was confused. That much was written on his face.

"You're so stupid. Don't you get it now? That's what Namine's powers are about!" Larxene turned around to face Sora once again.

"She can enter, rearrange, and even create new memories of anything, even things that never happened. The girl you've been trying to protect all this time is really a manipulative witch who shackles people's hearts!"

Sora gasped.

"Then….my memories….are all….." He looked down.

"Oh, you do get it! Lies, lies, all lies! Just Namine's illusions, nothing more," Larxene said as she waved her hand around.

"Nixa practically told you that herself, despite the fact that she didn't know anything about this plan and was given specific orders to not to cross paths with you. But you still didn't catch on, so I guess there was no reason to worry."

Sora's eyes widened. Nixa….was that blind person who read his heart before?

_Your problem is that there is something jacked up in there!_

So, she was telling the truth, then. And he had so easily discredited her.

"Binding you in the chains of your own memory was central to our trap. It makes me tingle to think how easily you were duped."

Larxene then started to frown.

"So close to it – we were almost there. This was our only chance to turn the Keyblade master into our puppet, but – that jerk Axel – he used Namine to betray us!" She summoned her knives as her anger escalated. Sora gasped.

"So now, I'm left with no choice but to eliminate you!"

"You'll pay…" Sora said as Larxene started to walk towards him.

Before Larxene could reach him, however, Namine ran in front of Larxene and stopped, spreading her arms out and shouting, "Don't!"

Larxene looked down, frowned, and tilted her head to the side as she considered the girl before her.

"Huh? It's a little late for the witch to grow a conscience. Last time I checked – YOU'RE the one who fooled around with his memories creating this mess."

Namine had looked down and lowered her arms for a second, but had put up her stance once again as her mind was made up.

"I know, but – "

"I should tell you that I'm in an EXTREMELY foul mood." Sparks flew off of her as she emphasized her point.

"Thanks to you, all our plans are ruined!" Larxene smacked Namine across the face, causing her to fly across the room and land next to Riku, unconscious.

"Namine!" Sora reached out his arm, but he was still too weak to get up to run to her.

"What's this? Are you upset? And you don't even actually know her!"

Nixa was starting to get tired of hearing Larxene's voice. She was starting to think that she should've jumped in earlier, but her curiosity and hunger for answers stopped her from interrupting Larxene. Now, it seemed like she was just out to torture Sora and that she wasn't going to reveal anymore information, if there was anything more to reveal.

Nixa signaled to Max, and they silently made their descent. She only stopped when she heard Sora speak up again.

"Maybe not. But still…I made…a promise." Sora got up from his hands and knees and was now sitting on his knees.

"What?" Larxene wasn't the only one confused. Nixa also wondered what Sora was talking about.

Sora kept on with his determination as he spoke.

"A promise I made to Namine to keep her safe." Sora got up so that he was now standing on his two feet. However, his stance was unsteady.

"Maybe my memories are fake. But the promise is real to me." Sora fell back down to one knee. He was still wiped from his last fight.

"That's why – I'll keep it." Nixa was kind of surprised at Sora's determination to keep a promise. Even if it was based on fake memories. It stilled her movements at the foot of the staircase, where, surely, she must be visible to everyone.

Larxene stared at the weakened hero before answering.

"Hmph. You're such an idiot. There is no promise and there never was! You're just delusional. Must you insist on playing the hero? Whatever, if that's the way you want it…You're going down alone!" Larxene raised her knives above her head as she prepared to attack. Nixa summoned her weapon and was about to run in when she detected two more hearts entering the room and Larxene halting her attack.

Larxene jumped back as a shield was thrown at her.

Donald and Goofy ran forward. Donald had cast Cure on Sora and was the first to speak up.

"Not if we can stop you!"

Sora stood up as his friends took defensive stances in front of him.

"Donald! Goofy! You found me!"

Goofy turned his head around to look at Sora.

"Of course we did. We were worried about you!"

Donald turned his head around as well to speak to Sora.

"And we promised! We promised that we would protect you!"

Sora smiled at his friends as they nodded and turned back to face Larxene.

"You won't ever be alone. It's always been the three of us and we stick together…." Goofy said.

"And that is how it's going to stay!" Donald finished for him.

Larxene just smirked.

"Okay…..Have it your way. More pain for you means more fun for me!" She brought her knives up and was prepared to start the fight.

"In that case, you're going to be in for a dull time!"

Larxene turned around and was shocked to see Nixa walking towards them from the stairs.

Donald, Goofy, and Sora were all surprised as well. There was the woman they wanted to try to find earlier, and now she was armed with a white, curved sword with a beige handle and looked ready for a fight. The wolf they had also seen earlier started to walk off to the side.

"You!" Donald pointed his staff at her. Max growled at him.

Larxene was only getting pissed at this new development.

"What are you doing here? This is none of your business!"

Nixa tilted her head up as she gave the appearance of thinking.

"Hmm….well, from what I understand, the word is out that you and Marluxia have turned traitor. So, from what I figure, I don't have to take orders from you anymore. And, since this is Sora you're planning to kill, I think that it _does_ concern me. I don't wish such a fate on the kid, anyway. So, where do you think that leaves us?"

Nixa crouched down into a fighting stance while Max circled around to stand guard in front of Namine to make sure that Larxene didn't pull anything such as a hostage situation.

Larxene scoffed.

"What, you're going to fight _me_? Please, with your handicap, you don't stand a chance! And we had plans on using you once we had taken over the Organization. But, I think Marluxia was right. You would have been more useful if you still had your heart. But, I guess there's not much to it. Yeah, you would've made things easier, but it's still not impossible without you!"

Nixa just stared at her general direction.

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about. But, either way, I won't let you get away with anything. Besides, we were never paired up to go on a mission together, so you don't know about how well I fight. If you think that I can't fight because I'm blind, then you're in for a surprise."

Larxene looked from her to the three who stood on her other side. She was outnumbered, but she was sure that she could still take them on. It was just a wimpy hero, his friends, a blind woman and her seeing-eye dog, who stood guard in front of the unconscious Namine.

"Fine. You're not really needed anyway. Not here and not even in the Organization. You're just a nobody in a group of Nobodies. So I should be able to make quick work of you."

Nixa, while her interest was perked up by some of the things she said, just said, "Let's see, then," and charged forward.

Nixa slashed her sword down, only for Larxene to throw up her arm and block the attack with her knives.

After a moment of deliberation, Sora charged forward as well, followed by Donald and Goofy. Nixa jumped back from Larxene as Sora used Sonic Blade on Larxene. Donald then jumped in to cast Blizzard and Goofy started to spin around while holding his shield out, aiming for Larxene as well.

Nixa jumped back as she was nearly hit by Goofy. She was trying to keep track of what everyone was doing, but, as the fight went on, she was starting to have a couple of close calls with the lightning attacks.

Just then, Larxene started to attack at a faster rate. She threw her knives at them and repeatedly called on her lightning attacks to gain a couple of hits on her foes.

Suddenly, Nixa felt a stabbing pain in her leg. She got hit by one of the knives and it got stuck in her thigh. As she jumped back, the pain in her leg caused her to go down and crash to the floor.

Max jumped up at the sight, but he didn't move from his spot. He had to make sure that Namine stayed out of the fight, but he was getting worried now.

Nixa tried to roll out of the way as she felt the static charge in the air gather around her, charging for an attack, but her leg made her too slow. She got hit, leaving her paralyzed where she lay on the floor.

She couldn't move. She could sense Larxene getting steadily closer as she blocked and dodged Goofy and Donald's attacks.

Finally, she sensed Larxene standing in front of her and preparing for another strike. But she still couldn't move! That last attack was pretty strong. She was stuck with no way to protect herself. She couldn't even use her Limit Break.

Suddenly, a strong light appeared in front of her. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was Sora's light from the feel of it. Sora came in at the last minute and blocked Larxene's attack on her.

Then, with one last Sonic Blade, Larxene was down for the count.

Larxene stumbled back, hand over her stomach and doubled over.

She tried to stay standing on unsteady feet.

"No….No! I refuse to lose to such a bunch of losers!" She swayed on her feet, panting.

Suddenly, her outline started to blur.

"I think I'm….I'm fading?" Larxene grabbed her right arm with one hand, as though to try to keep herself together even though it proved useless. She was still fading.

"No, this isn't…the way I…..I won't….ALLOW….."

The last of her faded before she could finish her sentence. And then that was it. That was the end of Organization XIII's Number XII, Larxene.

**And that is where I'll end it for today. It is late, and, to be frank, this seems to be a good way to end a chapter. **

**Blu Bearry, I'm sorry to say it, but Larxene has now been officially killed off in the story. You may go ahead and cuss Sora out for delivering the finishing blow.**

**We are starting to get to the end of the CO arc. All that's really left is…wait, why would I tell you now? I know that you all probably know what happens after this point in the game, but I won't reveal Nixa's involvement with the rest of the plot. That is going to be a surprise for next time.**

**Well, it is 3 am. I need to sleep. As usual, leave a review with any thoughts, opinions, etc about the chapter. **

**Later. *Crashes on bed* Zzzzzzzzz…..**


	14. Chapter 14

**And I am back! After replaying parts of 358/2 Days, I have gained some inspiration, which turned into motivation for going forward with the story and writing this chapter, despite the lack of reviews from the last chapter.**

**Now, on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: (Do I have to keep doing this at this point?) I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Nixa and Max.**

Chapter 14

Nixa laid there while she felt Larxene's presence slip away into nothing. And then, like that, she was gone. She found it disturbing. To just disappear like that, so easily, and with nothing to stop it. She found herself hoping that she wouldn't feel that happening to her friends.

Suddenly, as soon as she was able to move, someone had put a potion bottle (she could tell by the shape of the bottle) in her hand. She slowly sat up, putting her sword away, and uncapped the bottle. After she drank the potion, Sora stood in front of her, offering her a hand that she couldn't see.

"Are you ok?"

She raised an eyebrow at him as she started getting up by herself.

"Strange that you would be asking me, of all people, that. Wasn't I supposed to be considered your enemy?"

Sora stepped back as she got up. The wolf, who was standing guard by Namine, joined her side.

"In that case, why did you help us out? Wasn't Larxene supposed to be your friend?"

Nixa gave him a stare, or at least, a stare in his direction.

"I'll give you that. But, if you had been listening, you would have heard me saying that Larxene and Marluxia are now traitors. So, they're actually my enemies now."

Jiminy hopped up onto Sora's shoulder to join in on the conversation.

"So, basically, the enemy of your enemy is now your friend?"

Nixa tilted her head back as she gave the phrase some thought.

"I guess you could say that, but I never considered us enemies in the first place. You remember back when we first met? I said to not flatter yourself because I wasn't here for you. So, just like then, I'm not here to start a fight with you and give you grief, like the others had been, apparently."

Nixa turned around and started walking towards Namine, who sat on her knees in front of the Riku replica.

"Although, I should apologize for not jumping in earlier. I was standing on the stairs the whole time, since your fight with the replica. I was thinking about jumping in, but Larxene was offering answers that I was looking for. I was never told anything about this plan involving your heart, so I refrained in case my interfering made her stop giving away all this information."

Goofy stepped forward at this point.

"So wait, you didn't know anything about Namine? Or Riku?"

Nixa shook her head.

"I knew that they were here, and that Namine was being kept up on the 13th floor for some reason, but I was never told of their roles or purpose for being here."

There was silence for a moment before Nixa walked over to the wall next to Namine and the replica and leaned against it.

"But, enough about me. I believe that you want to talk to Namine, right?" She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. Max walked over to where she sat and sat down as well.

Sora nodded, and gathered around Namine with Donald and Goofy. However, he wasn't done questioning Nixa.

Goofy went ahead and started talking to Namine, who had her head down.

"You must be Namine! It's good to meet ya. We're friends of Sora's and my name is – "

Namine, already knowing their names, had cut him off.

"You're Goofy, and you're Donald." She looked at each of them respectively as she said that.

Donald then asked a question of his own.

"Yeah, but how did you know that?"

Goofy turned his attention to Sora, whose head was bent down.

"Congratulations, Sora! You finally found your friend. I'm so happy for ya!"

Jiminy was still pondering on Sora's shoulder.

"Gee, there sure are a lot of questions…..Namine, I know this probably won't be easy for ya….but could you tell us what happened?"

Namine looked up as Jiminy made his request. Then she looked back down.

"Of course. It's my fault, after all."

Namine stood up and was quiet for a moment. Max, sensing that they might be here for a while, went ahead and lay down next to Nixa.

"I took the people and memories that were inside Sora's heart…..and little by little, I replaced them with false memories."

"Hey…What about Sora's promise?" Donald asked.

"Made up. It was fake." Namine was looking down as she spoke. She couldn't look him in the eye.

"Sora never really promised me anything. Me being with him on the islands – that was a lie, just like everything else. We never met. I was never Sora's friend – "

"And you were never anything more, either….." Sora said more to himself than to anyone else. He kept his gaze down as well.

Namine went on with her explanation.

"No. You see, in all of your true memories, I was never really there."

"Gee, then that must mean it was your magic that made the rest of us lose our memories, too. Is there any way for us to ever get 'em back?" Jiminy asked.

Namine nodded.

"I can fix everything if we go to the thirteenth floor," she said with renewed determination. Then she looked back down as her confidence faltered.

"But Marluxia, he – "

"Bet I know who that is," Jiminy concluded, and then he asked, "Was he the fellah who made you tamper with all of our memories?"

"You hit that one right on the nose….." Nixa muttered, drawing attention to herself and reminding everyone that she was still there. Namine continued as if the interruption never happened.

"If I didn't obey, he said I'd be locked in this castle forever. I've been alone for so long…." Nixa could now identify a feeling, or a remnant of a feeling, that she had been sensing from Namine. Loneliness.

"So ya did what he told ya to do because you were lonely?" Goofy asked.

Namine bowed her head in shame once more.

"I'm so sorry." And Nixa could, once again, sense regret from Namine.

"Don't be. Please don't cry….." Sora asked of Namine.

"Oh….Of course. I know I really don't have the right to."

"That's not what I meant!" Sora said quickly.

"What?" Namine was confused. Nixa was curious. What was Sora going on about this time?

Sora turned his back to Namine and folded his arms over his chest.

"It's like this….I'm really not happy about you messing with my memories." That didn't surprise Nixa. She didn't expect anyone to be happy about that.

"But….you know, I can't really get mad at you for it, either. These memories you gave me…..In my head, I know they're lies, but they still feel right. Like the promise I made." Sora held his hand to his chest as he continued.

"I said that I would protect you and that I wouldn't make you cry…not ever."

Sora turned back around to face Namine.

"Namine…..if you cry now – I'll feel guilty, like I let you down. So don't cry…please. Until I get my memories back, smile and try to be happy. It's easier on me that way." Sora smiled at her, to let her know that it was okay.

"Sora…."

Nixa had to admit, she was a bit amazed by the kid. She wasn't exactly expecting that much kindness from him after being jerked around so much in this castle. But, she supposed that was what one should expect from someone whose light was shining so brightly, even now. She smiled, though nobody looked over at her and saw it.

Donald looked down and shook his head.

"Oh brother! That's a bit much."

"It's okay. Sora always gets like this every time he's around a girl!" Goofy replied.

"Aw, cut it out! I thought you both lost your memories, too!" Sora pointed out.

Donald laughed.

"Too bad. Good friends don't forget the good stuff!" Donald winked at him. Goofy laughed as well.

Nixa chuckled to herself. This kind of reminded her of when she still had a heart and when she used to hang out with Isa and Lea. Donald was right about that. She could write an embarrassing biography on her two friends.

"Come on…." Sora scratched his nose in embarrassment.

Namine actually laughed at this whole exchange as well, which brightened Sora up.

"There! That's it! That's the Namine I remember. Yeah….I really liked it when you used to smile. Of course, that was really only in my fake memories. But what I'm feeling now definitely isn't fake. It's real."

"Thank you." Nixa could tell that that really meant a lot to Namine to hear that. Sora was also telling the truth.

Sora turned to Nixa to address her.

"You know that what I'm feeling is real, right? You said once before that the heart never lies."

Nixa, who thought that she had been forgotten during the exchange, was taken aback slightly at being addressed, but she smiled and nodded anyway.

"Yes, I did say that. And yes, I know that you're telling the truth."

Sora nodded at her. Then he looked to his two friends.

"Well, then, let's go."

"Oh boy! I can't wait to get my memory back!" Donald exclaimed.

"Namine, Marluxia is gonna be up there, so maybe you'd better stay down here," Goofy advised.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe you could look after Riku? We'll come get you when it's over."

"Okay," Namine agreed.

"And as for you," Sora turned to face Nixa, who was still sitting up against the wall.

"I still have some questions I want to ask you, particularly about the stuff that you and Larxene were talking about."

Nixa waved her hand.

"Save it. You don't have the time. But, if you remember your questions after everything here is said and done and we come face to face again, maybe I'll answer them. But for now, you need to head on up. I'll stay here and look after Namine for you."

Sora reluctantly nodded to the terms. He wanted to know just what was this "Organization" was that they were talking about and what Larxene meant by calling Nixa a "Nobody". But, she was right, now wasn't the time. And, since she was going to watch Namine, he could just ask his questions once he got back.

"And, to help you out a bit, I'll even loan you Max here. We should be close enough to the room you want for him to sniff out Marluxia for you. It should help speed up the process for you." At Nixa's offer, Max stood up, letting Sora and his friends know that she was talking about him.

Sora eyed the wolf warily, but nodded.

"Okay, thanks."

Nixa turned her attention to Max.

"Well, you know what to do."

Max nodded, and then he ran on ahead and up the stairs. Sora and his friends went to follow him, turning around to wave Namine and Nixa goodbye.

"Please be careful, Sora," Namine said.

Sora smiled back at her.

"I'll be okay…..I promise!" A bark sounded from the top of the stairs. Nixa rolled her eyes. Max could be so impatient sometimes.

With a final wave, Sora and his friends raced after Max to find Marluxia.

…

Twenty minutes passed and there was still no word from Sora. But Nixa wasn't worried. She was keeping track of his movements. They should be getting there soon.

Namine was sitting on her knees and looking down at the replica. Then she lifted her head to look towards Nixa.

"So, are you really not going to fight Sora?" Namine, although she trusted Nixa more than she trusted Marluxia, couldn't be sure of Nixa's intentions for helping Sora out.

Nixa nodded.

"That's right. He reminds me of a friend of mine. Why would I want to attack him? By the way, how did you escape Marluxia and Larxene?" Nixa was curious. She thought that there was supposed to be someone watching her at all times.

"Axel let me out while he was watching me."

Nixa had let out a sigh of relief. Axel wasn't on Marluxia's side then. But, she still had to ask…

"Is it true that Axel killed Vexen?"

Namine looked at her once more. Nixa wasn't facing her, but had a knee drawn up and an arm wrapped around it. She was frowning and looked like she was afraid of the answer she was going to get.

"….Yes, he did. Marluxia gave him the order under the pretense that Vexen was a traitor, but he was really testing Axel to see if he could take out other members. Marluxia is planning on taking over the Organization and he was trying to recruit Axel."

Nixa looked down as she received the news. So, it was true. Zexion was telling the truth, and she had snapped at him for it. She was going to have to apologize to him the next time she saw him.

But, the news brought about an uncomfortable feeling in her chest. She just couldn't picture Axel as a killer. Not after all they had been through…..

"Are you two pretty close?" Namine had seen how Axel acted around Nixa the few times she was on the 13th floor. He was considerably friendlier towards her than he was to the others.

Nixa nodded with a sad smile on her face.

"Yeah, we'd been friends since back when we had our hearts. We know a lot about each other, which is why I can't picture him actually killing others."

Namine looked back down. So, that was why Axel was more protective of her. But, she still thought that Nixa should know about what Marluxia plans on using her was. Axel might think that she didn't need to know, but Namine didn't.

"Well, he's actually pretty protective of you."

Nixa looked up, confusion in her eyes. She was wondering what Namine was talking about.

"Axel didn't want to tell you everything that was happening because he didn't want Marluxia to hurt you. He's actually pretty worried about his plan to use you once he took over the Organization. Which was why he wanted you as far away from Marluxia and this whole plot all this time. He doesn't want to lose you."

Nixa frowned. She felt a warm feeling spreading through her empty chest, but that could wait until later. Right now, she was more concerned about what Marluxia was planning to do.

"What are you talking about? What was Marluxia going to do? And how exactly is Axel going to lose me?"

Namine was about to speak up again before she was cut off.

"You've said too much, Namine." Nixa tensed at the overpowering smell of flowers that enter the room at that moment.

Oh crap. Marluxia was here.

**CLIFFHANGER! MUAHAHAHAHA! *Cough, cough* Okay, evil laugh not really for me. But anyway, that's all for now. Please leave a review. Reviews are fuel for motivation. Plus, I'm not completely sure of how this chapter turned out.**

**And I've…stayed up too late for a Sunday night, so I'll just leave the AN here for now.**

**Later!**


	15. Chapter 15

**YES! THE DAMNED GLITCH KNOWN AS ERROR TYPE 2 IS GONE! **

**Since that is now out of the way, I am free to keep on updating. I have a lot of ideas for what will happen later.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

Chapter 15

Nixa jumped up to her feet and summoned her sword in one swift move. In a couple of steps, she moved in front of Namine so that she could protect her from Marluxia.

Marluxia just stood there, frowning.

"Well, I guess you made your traitorous ways obvious now."

Nixa frowned back at him.

"I'm not the one planning on wiping out the Organization."

Marluxia chuckled.

"This is coming from someone who didn't even _want_ to join the Organization. You had to have Axel say something to you before you gave up the hearts you collected and joined us. You didn't even talk to anyone for your first week, despite the fact that you had regained some sense and personality by the time you were found. You don't honestly want to keep working for the Organization, do you? The man who orders you around now was responsible for the destruction of your home, friends, and family, right? Wouldn't you prefer a different leader?"

Nixa scoffed. She wasn't going to fall for his mind games.

Namine just looked up at Nixa with wide eyes. She never wanted to join the Organization?

"What makes you think that I'll work for you? Especially since you seem to have some plan to use me. I think I'll pass on whatever offer you give me. I'm not interested in working under you. Besides, I have things I need to sort out as well. Whatever your plan is, I won't let it happen!"

Nixa took a defensive stance in front of Namine. She wished that Max was still there for a second, but shook it off. Right now, he was helping Sora. Besides, she was sure that she could take on Marluxia in a fair fight.

But….that was the problem. She didn't think that he would fight fair if given the chance to fight dirty. So, she had to make sure that he would have no chance to get to Namine because she was sure he would use her against her.

Gee, that didn't sound difficult at all.

Especially while fighting blind and with no back-up.

Nixa didn't bother with making the first move. She waited for him to come to her.

Marluxia started by jumping forward and swinging his scythe at her. Nixa held her ground by swiftly blocking the attack with her sword and keeping her stance, not moving away from Namine. Eventually, she was able to throw him off.

However, Marluxia attacked once again. This time, it was with a flurry of flower petals.

Crap! From of the feel of the energy behind the attack, she wasn't going to be able to block it.

Moving at the last second, she grabbed Namine around the waist and jumped to the side with her. Once they were in the clear, Nixa put down Namine and turned around to face Marluxia. Except, Marluxia wasn't where he was before the attack.

Suddenly, she felt something in her chest trying to sink as she sensed him behind her. Namine had let out a terrified gasped as Marluxia's scythe suddenly appeared in front of her throat.

Damn it! Nixa could feel the energy radiating off of the blade. He was threatening her.

Nixa clenched her fists, not liking the situation at all.

"Now, if you would lower your blade, I won't hurt either you or Namine. You both can still be useful to me. Sora doesn't want any misfortune to befall on Namine. And I'm sure that Axel can be reign in if he thinks your throat would be slit otherwise."

Nixa snapped her head around to glare at him. Okay, she was actually glaring more towards his throat, but she didn't know or care. Her hands were trembling with what she knew would have been rage. He was NOT going to use her to threaten Axel.

Marluxia was amused by the look on her face.

"Why, if I didn't know any better, I say you were mad. But that obviously can't be it. Besides, Axel killed Vexen. Why would you want to defend a killer?"

Okay, Nobody or not, she was distinctly _pissed_! Axel only killed Vexen because Marluxia made him do it!

If it wasn't for the fact that he had Namine, she would have thrown Flower Boy so that he would have crashed through all 13 floors to the front entrance!

But, she told Sora that she would watch after Namine. In order to try to keep doing that, she was going to have to do as Marluxia said. She was going to have to find a way to free them both later if nobody came to their rescue.

She put her sword away. This was not over! She just couldn't take action now. The first moment Marluxia was open, there was going to be hell to pay.

Marluxia smirked, pleased that the witch was a good hostage for not only Sora, but Nixa as well.

"Good." The next thing Nixa knew was that something hit the back of her head and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

…

Max suddenly stopped and turned his head in the direction they came from.

Something was wrong. That was the feeling he was getting. He knew that Nixa was capable of protecting Namine, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong.

"Hey! Is something wrong?"

Max looked up at Sora. The boy was looking at him with confusion. Max shook his head and continued on his way towards Marluxia's chambers. From what Nixa had said, the boy's heart was a jumbled mess. There was no need to add more worry into the mix of confusion and frustration that he had to have been feeling since coming to the castle.

Besides, he had no way of "talking" to Sora or his friends in the first place. Only Nixa could understand what he was trying to say.

Suddenly, the scent of flowers became stronger from the direction of Marluxia's chambers. Max picked up speed as he ran down another hallway. The fact that the scent grew stronger meant that Marluxia just returned to his room. But, that made Max wonder.

Where did Marluxia come from and what was he doing?

…

Axel was starting to wonder where Nixa had gone. He hadn't seen her since Zexion came to her rescue when she ran into Sora. He hoped she was alright.

But, he didn't have time to worry about Nixa right now. He had to go and confront Marluxia. Namine was released and found her way to Sora. Larxene had caught up to them, but he stopped watching before the battle began. He had every confidence that Sora was going to eliminate Larxene for him.

So, he kept an eye on Marluxia's chambers, waiting for the pink-haired man to show up. After a while, Marluxia finally appeared, and Axel teleported himself so that he appeared right behind the traitor.

Marluxia stopped walking.

"You have some nerve to show your treasonous face around here…..some nerve indeed…."

"Treasonous? I don't know what you could possibly be talking about." Axel somewhat tried to sound like he didn't know what Marluxia was talking about, but they both knew the truth.

Marluxia turned around to face him.

"Why let Namine go? If it weren't for your needless meddling we could have turned the Keyblade master to come and serve us."

"Ohh, right, your big plan. You used Namine to rewrite Sora's memory piece by little piece. And he turns into her total puppet. Then, using Namine and Sora together, you and Larxene overthrow the Organization. Am I right? I would say that YOU are the traitor, Marluxia."

"Since when were you suspicious of us?" Marluxia asked.

"Do either one of us have the heart to believe anyone?" Axel asked as he placed a hand over his chest.

Marluxia smirked. He heard the cocky tone in the redhead's voice.

"So you only eliminated Vexen to obtain proof of our plan?"

"That, I didn't want to do, but it was your order." As he spoke, Axel summoned his Chakrams, preparing himself for a fight.

"Oh?" Marluxia was amused by now.

"Remember the order? 'You must eliminate the traitor,'" Axel said as he stopped spinning his Chakrams.

"I always follow orders, Marluxia."

Marluxia only smirked at him. If only Axel knew what he had up his sleeve….

"Larxene paid the price for disloyalty when she disappeared…..You must do the same!"

Axel dashed forward at Marluxia, swinging his Chakrams at him. Marluxia jumped back and then raised his scythe as Axel threw the Chakrams at him, blocking their attack.

Axel caught his weapons as they came flying back at him. Axel then spread his arms out to his sides as he looked up at Marluxia.

"The Organization's betrayed. In that name, I will annihilate you."

"That line's not you," Marluxia said with his scythe pointed at Axel.

Axel took a step back as he lowered his arms.

"Well, had to try it once, you know." With that, Axel rushed forward again. This time, Marluxia jumped to the side and slashed at Axel, who jumped out of the way. Then, as Axel landed on the other side of the room, Marluxia slashed again, sending a wave at Axel, who blocked it with his Chakrams held in front of him. The attack made him slide a bit backwards, but Axel managed to hold his ground.

Marluxia raised his hand and, in a flurry of darkness and flower petals, had a terrified Namine under his hand and right in front of him.

Axel, who was sure that this was all he had on him, lowered his weapons with a smirk.

"Is that your shield? Won't do you any good, I'm afraid." He had nothing to worry about. Namine was just another Nobody, just like him and Marluxia. Marluxia smirked.

"I wonder. Does that mean that this won't be any good as a shield, either?"

With another flurry of darkness and flower petals, Nixa appeared off to Marluxia's side, lying on the ground and with the point of his scythe at her throat.

Axel froze. When did Marluxia get to her? How did he catch her so easily? Axel wasn't sure what to do. Namine was in a safer predicament. Nixa however, was one flick of a wrist away from having a slit throat.

He could feel something tighten in his chest when he saw her like that. It soon turned into something that was akin to anger. And he wanted nothing more than to take it out on Marluxia.

He didn't even hear the door open behind him.

"Are you seeing this, Sora?" Marluxia commanded Sora's attention the moment he enter the room. Axel had stalled long enough for the Keyblade master to come. Marluxia could just leave Axel to Sora now.

The first thing Max noticed was that Nixa was unconscious. As he ran forward, he noticed the blade at her throat inch closer as he tried to get to her. He slid to a stop as Axel raised an arm, signaling him to stop. Max understood the hated situation they were in. One wrong move and Nixa could be done for.

Max snarled at him, wishing he could take a huge bite out of the guy's throat.

"Axel says he's willing to harm Namine to get me. You won't let that happen, will you?" 

Sora and his friends crouched down into fighting positions. They had also noticed the situation Nixa was in. She was in as much trouble as Namine and all because she said that she would look after her for them.

Only Max had noticed out of the corner of his eye that Axel had tensed a bit when the blade seemed to inch closer to Nixa's throat. Max understood the situation then. Namine was a hostage for Sora. Nixa was a hostage for Axel.

Axel managed to regain most of his composure as he started talking to Sora.

"Oh, come now. You're Marluxia's puppet already?"

"After I finish you, he's next." Max turned his head around to give a low growl to Sora. He had no idea how to convey the idea that Axel was on their side.

"Hmph." Axel slightly waved his hand at Max to signal to him that it was okay. Their options were somewhat limited anyway.

"Now, Sora. We've got more in common than you might think," Axel said as he turned around to face Sora. He had completely regained his composure by now.

"I really rather not fight you…" Axel bent his head down, and then snapped it back up, smirk on his face, "But I can't dishonor the Organization, now, can I?"

As flames danced around Axel as he started his fight with Sora, Max took advantage of the distraction to try to get to Nixa. Marluxia was about to summon a Corridor of Darkness when he saw the wolf jump forward out of the corner of his eye. In one swipe, he managed to hit the wolf in his side with the shaft of his weapon and graze his side with the blade. The hit made Max fly to the side of the room, where he hit the wall and landed roughly on the ground. He watched as Marluxia left with Namine and a still unconscious Nixa as he slowly lost consciousness.

"Burn!" After Axel had sent a Fire Wall at Sora, he saw Max on the other side of the room, out cold and bleeding out. He took a glance at Sora and, while Sora was busy preparing for his next attack, used Cure on Max so that he would stop bleeding. He would still be out cold for a while.

Unfortunately, that distraction made him unprepared for the Sonic Blade that Sora came at him with. Axel took another glance around the room to see that Marluxia, Namine, and Nixa were gone now. That distraction made him take a Blizzaga to the face.

After taking several more blows from the kid, Axel decided that this was enough of a beating for this fight.

He jumped back, panting and with a hand over his side after taking a nasty hit to it.

"You're better than I thought you'd be. It was worth saving you after all."

"Saving me? What d'ya mean?" Sora asked, confused.

Axel looked up, laughing as much as the pain in his side would allow.

"Sorry, I would hate to kill the suspense." As he spoke, Axel summoned a Corridor of Darkness that he was disguising as himself vanishing as Vexen and Larxene had.

"Axel!" Sora had his hand out to him, but by then, Axel was gone.

Sora lowered his hand, and then took a look around the room. Namine, Nixa, and Marluxia were gone. He spotted Max knocked out alongside the far wall and ran up to revive him.

What puzzled Sora, however, was the fact that the cut that was on his side was already mostly healed. But, he didn't have time to ponder on that. He finished healing the cut and shook Max awake.

Max woke up, disoriented and without a clue as to where he was at. He looked up to see the boy, Sora. He looked around and then remembered the last thing he saw. Marluxia had taken off with Nixa and Namine.

Max jumped up, briefly wondered why Axel wasn't there, and then took off running in the direction Marluxia would have taken the girls. Axel could wait until later.

**I am not sure how well this chapter turned out. But, I need to go on with the story and this seemed to be the best way to do it. I have waaaaay too many plot bunnies running through my head. I hoped this chapter worked out for you.**

**I think I can say that there are only one or two chapters left for the Castle Oblivion arc. We are almost done with this section of the story.**

**Well, with that said, later!**

**Review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review…taking the hint yet?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Two chapters in one week! It's a miracle! I don't normally have this kind of time. Pretty soon I won't because of finals, but fear not! Finals don't last forever.**

**I am glad that this story is catching so many readers' attention. Even those like aliprat13 who said that they don't typically read stories with new characters. That makes me happy. :D I am glad to have caught everyone's attention and to receive such positive feedback from them.**

**THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED AND/OR ADDED THIS STORY TO THEIR FAVORITE AND/OR ALERT LIST!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Nixa and Max.**

Chapter 16

"But to possess your powers, and yet fear the darkness…What a waste." Lexaeus was now confronting Riku so that they could use him against the traitors.

"I do not….fear it!" Riku had run through the doors a few moments ago to find a large man with orange hair standing in the middle of the room with a huge red axe. He could tell by his scent that he was a "Nobody".

"I sense that you do. And I didn't even need Nixa's ability to do that."

"Nixa?" What was he going on about?

"You mean you didn't even learn the name of one of the ones you struck down with the darkness you fear? Then again, her name is somewhat different now. Nixa is the woman you saw earlier. She was accompanied by a wolf."

Riku gasped. That woman…..wasn't an illusion?

"But…..she was a fake, wasn't she? I saw her fade before my eyes! How could she be here?"

Lexaeus shook his head.

"You know so little. But, there isn't much of a point in explaining to you everything about us. Besides, think closely. Did her scent resemble mine in a way?"

Riku thought back to when he first saw her passed out on the ground. Her scent was mixing with the wolf's due to their proximity, but now that he thought back, her scent was the same as these "Nobodies".

"I can assure you, she is no ghost. She is, in fact, still around in a sense. But, she is like me because of you. To think that someone who fears the darkness so much could strike down a pure soul, whose heart emitted so much light."

Riku looked up, confusion written on his face.

"Pure soul? What do you mean by that? Wasn't she harnessing the hearts for their power? For her own gain?"

Lexaeus frowned at him.

"What gave you that idea? She was a healer, a safe haven for the hearts. The hearts came to her of their own will because she kept her heart 'opened'. She only had pure intents when she took in those hearts."

Riku was shocked, but that shock soon turned into rage. That wasn't what he was told! Damn it! Ansem had lied to him. He still remembered the look on her face when he plunged the Keyblade into her heart. That face hadn't really haunted him much before. But, now that he knew the truth, it was bound to haunt him now.

"But, thanks to you, she can no longer play as the role of a healer. She is now an empty, broken vessel. But enough talk. Cast away your useless fear. Open your heart. Embrace the darkness."

Embrace the darkness? After what Riku did from the last time he did that, what made him think that he was going to embrace the darkness?

"And if I say no?"

"Then you lose both light and darkness – and disappear!" As he said that, Lexaeus released a huge amount of energy as he crouched down, causing Riku to be shoved back about a foot. Then, Lexaeus stood up straight.

"I, Lexaeus, will not yield to the frail heart of an infantile coward! Now, stop resisting and let the darkness in!" With that Lexaeus rushed forward to initiate the fight with Riku.

…..

The first place Axel went to after his fight with Sora was back towards the room where Namine was held captive. Once he was sure he was alone, he pulled out a Hi-potion and drained it. After feeling that much better about his now lack of injuries, he walked towards the crystal ball and looked back to what had happened earlier.

He started with Larxene's battle. As he saw, if he had bothered with watching the whole battle, he would have seen that Nixa had joined in on the fight. He winced when he saw her go down because of a leg injury and was then paralyzed by another attack, but was relieved when Sora came to her aid and even handed her a potion after taking Larxene out.

Then, after Namine explained a few things with Sora, Nixa volunteered to watch after Namine and loaned Sora Max instead of answering his questions. That would explain why Max came in with Sora. After a while, Namine revealed to Nixa that Axel did kill Vexen and was about to tell Nixa about what Marluxia was going to do. But, that was when Marluxia came in.

Even as a Nobody, Nixa had to insist on helping others out. That was why Marluxia had her. She said that she would watch Namine and Marluxia took full advantage of that. Again, Axel felt something build up in his chest, something that would have been rage.

As much as he would love to go and beat Marluxia's ass, Sora was almost there and the kid thought that Axel was already done for. So instead, he hoped that Sora would give Marluxia hell for him.

Next, Axel checked on the situation with Riku in the basement. He was just in time to see Lexaeus get beaten by Riku and vanish. Now, there were only four members left in the castle. But, soon it was just going to be two.

He decided that now was a good time to go see Zexion.

….

Max sped down the hallway with Sora and his friends at his heels. Max could see the antechamber that they wanted to find at the end of the hallway. And in there were Marluxia with Namine standing next to him and Nixa collapsed on the ground on his other side.

Max slid to a stop in front of them, snarling at Marluxia. Sora came to a stop next to him and Donald and Goofy stood slightly behind them.

"You've defeated Axel." Marluxia laughed as he watched them stop in front of him. Max stopped snarling, taken aback. He turned his head to look at Sora for confirmation. Sora, seeing (at least he was guessing that he saw) a somewhat questioning look on the wolf's face, nodded at him, confirming what Marluxia said to be true.

"In that case, I don't need this one as a hostage anymore." Marluxia picked up Nixa by the back of her coat and threw her to the side of the room, where she landed with a thump.

"What are you talking about? Didn't you just catch her because she was protecting Namine for us?" Sora asked.

Marluxia laughed again.

"It is true that, by using Namine against her, I was able to catch her. But, I didn't bother killing her, like I would have done otherwise, because she still had some use. Nixa was only a hostage to keep Axel at bay for a bit. And it worked. That was the predicament he was stuck in when you found us."

Confusion flashed through Sora, Donald, and Goofy's faces.

"Axel? But you said he was willing to harm – "

"I said that he was willing to harm Namine to get to me. I said nothing about him willing to harm Nixa. I just needed to give you a reason to fight him."

Sora looked from Marluxia to Nixa to Max, who only nodded, confirming what had happened. Even though Max wasn't there when it happened, he still saw the actual situation in the room.

Sora wanted to pursue the subject more, but Marluxia had already shifted his attention to something else.

"The Keyblade's power – how I've longed to make it my own."

"Let them go!" Sora shouted. He could always get answers out of Nixa later. Right now, the priority was to get both Namine and Nixa out of Marluxia's hands.

"You've no chance of winning." Marluxia then placed his hand on Namine's shoulder.

"Namine…Erase Sora's memory."

Ugh, she had such a headache. Why did she have a headache? Falling back asleep sounded like a better option. If she woke up, surely her headache would get worse. So, she started to let her consciousness sink back into sweet unconsciousness.

Right when she was almost gone and her headache had been dulled, someone shouted at her.

_Don't sleep now! There are others who need you now!_

Huh? Where did that voice come from? She would try to open her eyes, but she saw little point since she already knew what she would see. Nothing.

_I did not stick around to help you out just so you can sleep while others you would help face peril! Come on, shake the sleep out of your eyes, get over the headache, and get moving!_

That voice sounded familiar. It wasn't from anyone in the Organization, and it wasn't the same voice she heard earlier. So, who was it?

_Don't worry about that now! Get up, get up, get up!_

Deciding to take the voice's advice, she slowly started to climb back out of the hole she was willingly falling through. That was she was becoming aware of other voices.

"…even if it's just a lie!"

That voice. That was a voice she knew. But, whose voice was it? She knew the name was there somewhere. She strained to hear more of what was being said as she was forcing herself awake.

"Imbeciles…" That was another voice she knew. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she opened up her senses once again. There were….seven people in the room. Only five of them had hearts. One of the ones without a heart was standing alone on one side of the room and had darkness swirling around him. She also noticed that the room distinctly smelled of…..flowers?

Her eyes shot open as she remembered why she was out cold and with a headache. Marluxia had forced her into a corner and knocked her out. That bastard!

"You turn from the truth because your heart is weak….You will never defeat me!"

Nixa would like to think otherwise. Sora managed to survive this far with his friends, so why wouldn't he be able to defeat Marluxia? Honestly, Marluxia shouldn't have such a habit of underestimating people. That was how the others got killed.

While Nixa wanted nothing more than to join the battle right then and there, she decided to try a surprise attack. It took a few moments of her just lying there and listening to the others engage in the fight, but eventually, Marluxia got within a few feet of her with Sora right behind his presence. That meant that he was more likely facing away from her to fight Sora.

So, not wasting the opportunity, she sat up quickly and sent a Firaga at Marluxia. Marluxia, who didn't even notice that Nixa had regain consciousness, didn't detect the attack until it was too late and took the full blast from it.

Marluxia turned around, glaring at the blind Nobody. As soon as she jumped up and summoned her sword, Marluxia was already about to send a Deathscythe her way.

Max ran over to aid Nixa, but that became unnecessary as Sora beat Marluxia to the punch and hit him with another Ars Arcanum. As Marluxia fell to the ground, Nixa threw in a Blizzaga into the fight and then Sora finished him off with a Sonic Blade.

Marluxia took a step back after Sora's last attack, and then he faded in a flurry of darkness and flower petals.

"Is he gone?" Donald asked. Sora gave him a thumbs up to indicate "yes."

However, Nixa wasn't sure. For someone who was trusted with about half of the Organization and keeper of the castle, that seemed a bit too easy.

"You could say that." Damn it! Sometimes she hated being right. Everyone else jumped at the sound of Marluxia's voice echoing through the antechamber. Everyone looked around to locate the source. A moment later, Marluxia teleported in front of the doors to reveal himself.

"However, what you destroyed was merely an illusion of me." Nixa blinked, and then checked her senses again. The person in front of them now felt like Marluxia, but seemed to be weaker in power than she would have guessed him to really be. Since when did he start using this whole illusion thing?

"So what!" Riku rushed forward and slashed down at the Marluxia in front of them, only for it to disappear as he did so.

"Another imitation." Everyone rushed forward to join up with the fake Riku at the doors. Then everyone looked up at the doors.

"He's really…..in there?" Sora asked.

"Yes," said Namine.

Nixa nodded as well. Now that she was awake, focusing, and without the distraction of the illusions, she could definitely sense a dark, powerful aura emanating from the other room.

"I knew it. I can feel his power. It's trying to destroy my heart." Sora put a hand to his heart as though to emphasize his point.

"Well, you'll just have to show him that you won't break so easily now, do you?" Sora turned to face Nixa, who was smiling at him. Sora nodded at her, but then remembered that she was blind.

"Right."

"Gawrsh, we'll just take care of him together!" Goofy said optimistically.

"Sora! C'mon!" Donald urged.

Sora turned to face Riku.

"Riku….Protect Namine." This caught Riku of guard for some reason. Riku turned around to face Sora.

"You don't…..mind?"

"Should I?" Sora asked with a smile. There was a moment of silence before Riku responded.

"All right." Riku nodded.

"Well, what about you?" Sora asked Nixa.

"Huh? What about me?" What did they expect her to do?

"Are you going to help us fight Marluxia? Or are you going to stay out here to protect Namine as well?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, and then tilted her head up as she thought.

"Hmmm…as tempting as rubbing victory in Marluxia's face sounds, I think I'll just go ahead and decline. I'm not needed here."

"Huh? What do you mean?" How was she not needed? Could she not sense the energy just pouring out of Marluxia's room?

Nixa turned her head so that she was looking in their general direction.

"I'm saying that I believe that you are more than capable of taking on Marluxia. You have the power and ability. You just can't let him get to you so he can destroy your heart. And Riku is capable of protecting Namine. So, since I'm not really needed here, I need to get back to my business with this castle."

She started walking away with Max at her side, opening her senses to the point that she could faintly sense Axel, Zexion, and Riku in the basement levels. Wait, where did Lexaeus go?

"Hold on! There's one thing I wanna know before you go!"

Nixa turned around, eyebrow raised.

"Why did you help us in the first place? You said that you weren't here for us and that one guy said that you were in trouble because of us, right? So why did you go so far for us if you had no reason to?"

Nixa stared at them for a minute, and then looked up as she did when thinking. She didn't expect him to ask such a question. This kid was definitely interesting.

"I guess you could say it's because you remind me of a friend of mine. That and I've been told before by a friend of mine that I'm just one of those people who always have to try to help out other people. I guess it's just a part of who I am that never went away."

Sora looked down as he considered her words. He guessed that they made sense. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to get a better answer than that.

"Before I go, I think I will give you some advice."

Sora looked up to see her back facing him.

"I noticed back on the 12th floor that you had left your friends behind for a while. Take it from someone who has experienced this. Keep you friends close, for you don't know the true value of something until it's gone."

"Huh?" Sora frowned. He wanted to ask her what she meant, but she had already left through a portal with Max before he could voice his question.

**And that's where I'll leave off this chapter. If my calculations are correct, I should be finished with CO in the next chapter. Yes, we will be getting back to Roxas and Xion and anything I can think of for the time gaps in the storyline.**

**I hope you guys find this chapter satisfactory, as it is late and I'm tired. As usual, reviews are appreciated. Now, until next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Yo! I am back! And no, this is not the Reno fic. That is one of the other stories.**

**I've read some of the recent reviews and it sounds like someone had misunderstood what I said. So, anonymous person who wrote the review (there was no name on the review, so I don't know how else to address you), this story is actually going to be longer than just the Castle Oblivion part. I meant that we will soon be heading back to the Castle That Never Was and Twilight Town. So this story is not going to be over in one or two more chapters. How much longer will this story be? If I had to make a guess, that will only spoil the story, so I can't (more like won't) say.**

**Well, this AN is long enough. Enjoy the new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Nixa and Max, but not Max's design (which is Twilight Princess). Just realized that I should probably make that clarification since I am not the genius behind Zelda.**

Chapter 17

The first thing that Nixa did when she left Sora to take care of Marluxia was track down Axel. He was lurking around in the basement for some reason. She wondered what he was doing.

Axel turned around when he heard a portal open up behind him. He wasn't sure who he was going to see, but was relieved when he saw that it was Nixa and Max. Max, who had been told that Axel had been taken out, had a confused look on his face.

Nixa looked down at Max.

"Hey Max, what are you confused about? It's just Axel here."

"Oh, he probably heard that Sora took me out, which, as you can see – "

"Which I can't."

Axel winced at the slip of tongue and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, you get the point. He didn't do it. I just made him think he did."

"Why did you do that? What's the point?" Why was Axel being so secretive?

_Well, he's actually pretty protective of you._

But what was he trying to protect her from? He should know that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

_Are you really?_

And the voice returned. Great, just what she needed. A headache.

"Oh, no reason in particular. Hey! Since we don't have any of the other members bugging us now, how about we spend some time down here looking for that chamber we were supposed to find."

Axel was avoiding her question, but she decided to overlook it. He had never given her a reason to mistrust him as a Somebody. So she was going to trust him again as a Nobody….although she was going to get him to explain the Vexen situation eventually. And the Marluxia situation.

Axel knew that she would notice that he was avoiding her questions. He was just hoping beyond hope that she would just drop it and not bring them up again. With her stubborn personality, the chances of that were slim to none.

"Okay."

Wait, did she just say okay? Well, if she did, then he was going to have to take it.

"Okay, now which floors have you – " Axel never got to finish his question because, right at that moment, a strong tremor shook the castle. It only lasted a second and, during that second, Nixa sensed the strong, dark aura she felt upstairs vanishing.

"And there went Flower Boy. Oh Flower Boy, we shall miss you…"

"Are you done being sarcastic?" Axel smirked.

"Yeah, pretty much." With that, they started searching the floor they were on for the elusive chamber.

…..

"Okay, this is annoying again." They managed to search two floors in a shorter amount of time than it would have taken for just one of them. But, as was their luck so far, they found nothing.

"I swear, it's like this castle doesn't want us to find anything," Nixa muttered. Axel turned to see a frustrated Nixa with her arms crossed. She really couldn't sense anything?

"Well, since you're clearly frustrated, how about you go lie down somewhere and I continue searching." Besides, he needed to tend to Zexion and he knew that Nixa wouldn't approve of that.

"That sounds like a good idea. Oh, I need to go see Zexion first." Aw crap.

"Why do you need to go see him?" Axel was hoping that, since he didn't have a heart, Nixa wouldn't see through his ruse.

"I sort of blew up on him earlier. I got, well I suppose I technically didn't, but still, he said something that made me flip my lid. I feel that I should apologize for it, since it was uncalled for."

Axel blinked at her. A Nobody who felt the need to apologize? That shouldn't be possible, should it? Then again, stranger things had happened before….

"Well, now may not be a good time. Zexion's got his hands full dealing with Riku."

Nixa frowned and searched the castle with her senses for Zexion and Riku. Axel was right. He was about to fight Riku right now.

"That reminds me….What happened to Lexaeus? I can't sense him anymore."

Axel flinched. He forgot about Lexaeus. He also had a feeling that he knew how she was going to react to the news.

"….He got killed by Riku." Her eyes widened at the news. Damn! She knew that Riku was powerful, but to take out Lexaeus like that?

"In that case, I should go to make sure that Zexion will be okay." Axel snapped his head up. No, that wasn't what he wanted her to do.

"Don't worry about Zexion. He has all of those illusions he's been placing on Riku. Plus, you know that he's not easy to beat. I'm pretty sure that he'll be okay against Riku."

Nixa frowned at Axel. Why was he so determined to keep her away from Zexion? The most she was planning was just to get Zexion out of there and leave Riku alone. He obviously wasn't someone to be taken lightly.

Axel grew nervous. She was starting to get suspicious, wasn't she? He knew that she wouldn't like what his plan was. He had to make sure that it looked like Riku did it. But he couldn't if she was standing right next to him.

"…..Okay, but you're going to have to tell me just what is going on eventually. We're still friends, aren't we?"

Axel stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Of course we are. And I know that you want answers. But, now's not the time. I'll tell you everything eventually. So just trust me on this, okay?"

"…..Okay." Nixa slowly nodded. She was going to make sure that she got answers for his behavior, but now she was going to trust him again. Hopefully, he wasn't going to do anything bad or stupid.

"Come on Max. I'll see ya later, Axel." With that, she left to get some rest in a different room with Max.

Axel released the breath he didn't know he was holding. He knew that he couldn't keep hiding stuff from her. But, it was only for just a little longer. Then, they could go back to hanging out with Roxas and just forget about everything that went on here in the castle. At least, that was what he kept telling himself.

He left the floor to track down the fake Riku.

…..

Nixa decided to sit at the foot of the stairs on the first floor. Sora was still on the 13th floor doing who-knows-what. And, she honestly didn't feel that tired. She was pretty sure that she got plenty of rest when Marluxia knocked her out.

She sighed.

"I don't know Max. Should we confront Axel about all of this or just pretend that nothing was going on?"

Max looked down contemplating as he lay at the foot of the stairs.

However, their moment of thinking ended shortly after Nixa gasped and jumped up.

"Zexion!" She could sense it. Zexion was hurt. His presence was weaker now and on the brink of fading.

Without another word, she and Max traveled through a portal to get to where she sensed him to be.

….

What was Axel doing?

The replica had Zexion in one hand by the front of his coat. Then, he started to absorb Zexion, and all Axel was doing was just standing there watching.

"So sorry, Zexion. You just found out way too much."

So far, everything was going good. Zexion was fading and being absorbed into the fake Riku. If Nixa ever asked, he could easily say that Riku did it, and he wouldn't technically be lying.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated just how strong her senses could be.

Axel turned around at the sound of a portal opening. He gasped when he saw Nixa standing there, wide-eyed and shock on her face.

She could sense Axel, the fake Riku, and Zexion in the room. And right now, the fake Riku was absorbing Zexion's being into him. If he did that….

"Zexion!" Nixa ran forward with the intent to help him, but an arm reached out and held her back. Axel's arm.

"Wait!" he said. Wait? Why wait? Zexion was going to vanish!

Nixa struggled against him as she felt Zexion slowly disappearing.

Zexion looked over at her to see her trying to rush forward to help.

"_Ienzo! You have to be a bit more careful than that! You can get hurt like that!"_

"_Quick, before Even spots us!"_

"_Do you have any interests in dying?"_

"_Are you a ninja?"_

"_Hey Ienzo, want some ice cream?"_

"_And leave the poor kid to endure Even's screaming and ranting all alone? That would be cruel of me."_

"_What can I say? You're like the little brother I never had."_

And just like that, Zexion, Number VI, the Cloaked Schemer, was gone.

Nixa stood there, shocked. The only thing that was holding her up was Axel's arm.

Zexion…..Ienzo…was gone. And Axel just stood there and let it happen. He had even held her back from helping him.

Max growled at the replica, who just stood there and watched him. Then, something Axel didn't expect happened. Nixa punched him in the jaw. Then she left through another portal. This time, she left Max behind.

Axel was left reeling from the sudden blow. By the time he was able to look up, Nixa was gone. The next thing Axel knew was that there was a dull ache in his chest.

The replica said nothing and did nothing. After a moment, he just left in search of the real Riku.

Max then turned his attention to Axel, who was still standing there in shock. He growled at him.

Axel looked down at Max. The look on Max's face demanded that he fix this. But, how would Axel go about fixing this? He knew what the kid's Somebody meant to her. She had told him herself that she thought of Ienzo as a little brother. And just now he went and let him fade for some plan.

He wasn't sure if Nixa would understand the plan if he told it to her. Well, it was more of Saix's plan, but still, he was playing a part in it.

The dull ache throbbed a bit more painfully when he thought of Nixa not wanting to see him again after that.

….No. No plan was worth losing her over it. Feeling determined he turned to Max.

"Come on. Let's go find her." He opened a Corridor of Darkness and he and Max walked through it to find their very upset, and possibly very pissed, friend.

…

Why? Why did Axel just let Zexion fade like that? He was right there! All he had to do was attack the replica and Zexion could have been saved! Which meant that, he let Zexion die on purpose, didn't he?

NO! He couldn't have done that!

_Just like he couldn't have killed Vexen, but he still did._

Nixa didn't know what to think anymore and that voice sure as hell wasn't helping!

What should she do? She had never once mistrusted Axel, but what should she think now? Marluxia was dead now and he still killed someone. Did that mean he was under someone else's orders? Someone other than Marluxia?

But whose orders were they then? The Superior's? What would he have to gain from having the Organization's numbers depleted? Plus, Zexion was one of the smarter ones in the Organization.

Nixa clutched her head as it started to pound from all of the thinking.

Suddenly, she heard a portal open up behind her and she tensed. Heat that intense could only belong to Axel.

She raised her hand to create her own portal, but Axel managed to close the distance between the two of them and grabbed her arm to prevent her from running off.

She didn't know what she should do, but she just knew that she didn't want to face Axel now.

"Nixa, listen to me! There is a reason that Zexion had to – "

"Oh, so there _is_ a reason. Well I'm all ears now! Tell me, what reason do you have to kill off one of our own who _wasn't_ a traitor?"

Axel flinched at her tone. Yep, she was pissed off at him. Even though they weren't supposed to be able to feel anything, she was definitely able to pull off the tone and facial expressions that said that she was as angry as hell.

"Look, it's just that there's this plan that – "

"Plan? What the hell are you talking about? What kind of plan calls for killing one of your allies? I can't believe you! I've defended you, damn it! Back when Zexion thought that you were with the traitors! I stood up for you and now you're saying that – "

"I'm not a traitor! I'm just…look, would you stop being so stubborn? I'm not sure how to explain it."

"Well then, come find me when you can!"

Now it was Axel's turn to get frustrated. He understood that she wouldn't have taken Zexion's death well, but she wasn't really listening to him now.

He pulled her close when she tried to get away again.

"Look Nixa! You have to trust me!"

"What do you think I've been doing? Even though you've been keeping secrets from me and I found out that you killed Vexen, I trusted you to know what you were doing and that there was a good reason. But now, thanks to you, I'll never to able to apologize to Zexion, and Ienzo won't be able to come back anymore! I've been holding out hope that, with either Kingdom Hearts or by some miracle I find the hearts on my own, I would be able to give back the hearts that I had collected over the years to their rightful people, before they became heartless. But now, Ienzo…"

She grew quiet. Axel stared down at her as a mournful expression replaced the angry look on her face. He had a feeling that she still saw Zexion as the kid she spoke fondly of, but he had no idea how deep this fondness went.

He didn't know what to do to try to cheer her up, so he just held her there and absentmindedly started to stroke her hair.

"…Nixa, I'm…" Axel stopped short of what he was going to say when he felt her tense up. Suddenly he heard her gasping for air.

He looked down at her to see her clutching her chest and an almost scared look on her face.

What was happening? Was it the same thing from before?

"Nixa? Nixa. Nixa!"

Nixa couldn't breathe. Her chest was throbbing and she could feel herself falling. The last thing she heard before the flow of her own blood blocked out everything else was Axel desperately shouting her name.

"NIXA!"

**Ah, nothing like a good cliffhanger. *Snickers evilly* Okay, I was off a bit on this calculation, but oh well. That's my luck anyway.**

**I hoped that this chapter was to your liking. I now need to call it a night. Review if you want the next chapter out as fast as possible.**

**Later!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello! You guys are lucky! You are getting spoiled with the updates two days in a row! So you guys didn't get to wallow in suspense for that long. That is mainly because I already knew what I was going to put in this chapter for the most part. That and I'm procrastinating on other things. **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Nixa and Max but not Max's design.**

Chapter 18

Axel looked down at Nixa, at a lost of what to do. He knelt down when she became dead weight in his arms. Now, no matter how many times he said her name or tried to shake her awake, she remained unconscious.

Axel didn't know what to do. What should someone do in a situation like this? But wait. She always woke up in a matter of minutes from the other times. Maybe all he had to do was wait.

However, just waiting for her to wake up became agonizing as minutes passed and she still showed no signs of becoming conscious soon. Did that mean that it was even worse this time?

"What is causing this?" Axel asked himself. Then he looked around at the room he was in.

It had to be the castle. She wasn't having problems like this before they came here. So there was something in the castle that was harming her. But what? He didn't have time to figure out what it was about the castle that affected Nixa. He needed to get her out of there. But they still had a mission to do.

Axel looked over to the side when he heard Max whine. Max had walked up to them and was nudging Nixa's side, hoping that she would wake up. Axel then made a decision.

Very carefully, he laid Nixa across Max's back so that she wouldn't just simply fall off. Then, he summoned a Corridor of Darkness.

"Max, take Nixa back home. I'll finish up the job here and come back as well. Make sure that she'll be safe, okay?" Max nodded. He knew that when Axel said home, he meant the Castle That Never Was.

"Good. I'll be right behind you guys. Now go. Riku is still in the castle and we don't want him to accidentally find her." Max nodded again and walked through the portal.

Axel watched as the portal disappeared. He wanted nothing more than to head back with those two and make sure that Nixa would be okay, but he couldn't go back empty-handed just yet. He still had to try to find that chamber that he and Nixa were ordered to find.

So, with a flick of his wrist, he created another portal to take him to a different part of the castle to start his search.

…

Demyx was doing nothing in particular. His mission for the day was done and he was kicking back on a couch in the Grey Area with his sitar. Things were definitely more peaceful with half of the Organization gone.

Right at that moment, a portal opened in the middle of the room. Demyx looked up to see Max walking in with Nixa on his back. However, she slipped off of his back shortly after they had exited the portal.

Demyx jumped up from his spot on the couch and put his sitar aside.

"Whoa! Nixa, what happened to you? Did you take a beating or something?"

When he got no answer, he walked forward and knelt down. She was out cold. He started shaking her shoulder.

"Hey Nixa! Wake up! Man, what happened?" He asked Max before realizing that he wouldn't be able to get an answer from him. Max only stood there and kept an eye on Nixa. That was basically all he could do. Well, actually, he could demand help from the blonde here.

He barked at Demyx, who jumped back.

"What? What did I do?" Max then motioned to Nixa, hoping that Demyx would get the idea that he was telling him to help her. Whether or not Demyx got the message, he would never know because Saix came in at that moment.

"What is going on here?" he asked in an emotionless tone.

"I don't know! All I know is that Max came dragging Nixa in here and she's out cold! The strange thing is that it doesn't even look like she just came out of a fight." That was true. The lack of injuries on her showed that she didn't just lose a fight.

Saix looked down at her for a minute. He was acutely aware of Max trying to stare him down, demanding that he do something to help her.

"….Get her to her room. I will inform the Superior of this." With that, Saix left. Max snorted. Honestly, the guy couldn't even bother with helping her out himself? Oh well. At least the blonde was being helpful as he picked Nixa up.

Demyx was on his way into the hallway that connected to the Gray Area when he remembered something. He turned back around to face Max.

"Hey, uh, Max. Could you show me the way to her room?"

…..

Roxas and Xion were walking down one of the many hallways in Castle Oblivion. They had just gotten back from their usual hangout.

"I hope Axel and Nixa get back soon. They've been gone for a long time now."

"Don't worry Roxas. I'm sure that they'll be back any day now. Their mission can't go on forever."

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Just then, they saw Demyx walking towards them and carrying a bunch of raw steaks. Roxas and Xion exchanged confused looks. Finally, Roxas spoke up.

"Hey Demyx! What's with the steaks?"

Demyx looked over to see the two younger Nobodies giving him odd looks.

"Haven't you heard? Nixa and Max came back today."

Roxas and Xion looked at him in surprise.

"Really? Where are they? Are they okay?"

Demyx waved his free hand at him.

"Hey, calm down Roxas! Right now, they're in her room. Max is okay, but Nixa is unconscious for some reason. She's been out cold since they got here. I don't know what happened, and we won't know until she wakes up."

"….." Roxas wasn't sure how to respond. One of his friends was asleep and no one knew why. Just what was going on over at Castle Oblivion?

Xion, who saw that Roxas wasn't going to speak up soon, asked Demyx a question she knew that they both want answered.

"Can we go see her?"

Demyx nodded.

"Sure. I was just on my way there." And so, the three of them started walking over to Nixa's room.

"Hey Demyx, you still didn't tell us why you have those steaks."

"Because I still remember the last time I ran into Max when he was hungry. He steals steak from the kitchen all the time, but before he knew where it was, I accidentally bumped into him and he tried to take a bite out of my sitar! So I showed him where the kitchen was. Xaldin doesn't like it, but I rather not deal with an irritated wolf who's hungry."

Xion laughed a bit at the story. Roxas wasn't paying too much attention. He was too busy worrying about his friend.

They finally made it to Nixa's room. Nixa was lying on the bed and Max was lying on the floor next to the bed.

Demyx dropped the steaks in front of Max, who growled as some juice splashed onto his face.

"Blegh!" Demyx wiped his hands on his pants, trying to get the juice off of his hands. Then he directed his attention at Max.

"Hey man, I don't know when you last ate, but you have to eat sometime."

Max said nothing and ignored the food in front of him. It wasn't out of pride that he ignored them, but the fact that he was worried about Nixa. This was the longest she had been out so far from all of the episodes she had.

"How long do you think she'll be out?" Max looked up at the blonde, Roxas, who was looking down at him. He had a concerned look on his face.

Max could only shrug. He had no idea how long she would be out this time. Roxas turned his attention back to Nixa.

"Is there anything we can do?"

Xion shook her head.

"There wasn't anything we could do for you except wait for you to wake up. My guess is that it's the same for her. But, you woke up, so I'm sure that she'll wake up in no time."

Roxas wished that he could have Xion's optimism for a minute. Then, he turned his attention to Demyx.

"What about Axel? Didn't he come back?"

Demyx shook his head.

"Nope. These two are the only ones who came back. And from what I understand, things at Castle Oblivion are a mess now. It's going to take a while just to figure out the gist of what was going on, especially since the only confirmed alive person is in a coma."

Roxas looked down again. Why were Nixa and Max the only two to have come back? What was going on? Where was Axel? Roxas had too many questions and no answers. All he could do was as Xion said and just wait for Nixa to wake up. Hopefully it would be soon. Saix wasn't normally patient with her for some reason.

Meanwhile, Nixa was blissfully unaware of her concerned friends surrounding her bed, or that she was back at the Castle That Never Was in the first place. Instead, her mind was slowly drifting back. Back to a time that she would often look back at fondly.

A time where there weren't any Nobodies or Heartless. Just friends and family and what she would consider the best time of her life.

….

"_I can't believe it! Why now? Why?"_

"_Just calm down. She's going to be okay. There's no need to worry about it now."_

"_Yeah, she's going to be okay _now_, but what if there's a next time? Would she be able to handle it?"_

"_Don't think like that. Don't you have faith in her?"_

"_Well, yeah! Of course I do! I'm just worried."_

"_I understand. But remind me again why you stayed here like me?"_

"_To help her when she needs it."_

"_Exactly. If she starts struggling, we would do what it takes to help her so that she doesn't lose herself."_

"_I know that! I know what I signed up for! It's just that…..this guy won't give up so easily!"_

"_I know."_

"_I don't even know why he's acting up now. He hadn't shown any signs that he was still here at all! So why does he show up now?"_

"_Well, technically, we haven't exactly existed here ourselves until some time ago. The only difference is that we haven't made ourselves known or tried to give her trouble before now. Do you remember what brought us here when we shouldn't be here?"_

"…_Well yeah, it was….wait! When did it happen for him? Wouldn't we have known if he came up?"_

"_You don't remember? He was around recently, but not in the same sense as we were when we approached her. Think back. You should know this."_

"…_Damn it! Well wait, by that logic, this should have happened earlier."_

"_I suspect a catalyst. Otherwise, it shouldn't have been so strong in the first place."_

"_You can say that again. So, what do we do now?"_

"_We'll keep an eye on things for now. But, things should quiet down for now."_

"_And if he acts up again?"_

"_I think I know where it is."_

"_It? What's…..OH! That! You honestly think you know where _that_ is? How?"_

"_Surely you're memory is better than that."_

"…_I am now tempted to slap you."_

"_Just think. It'll eventually come to you. Besides, since when do you get violent?"_

"_When crap like this happens! Now you're the one with the bad memory!"_

"_Oh right. Hmph. I'll give you that."_

"_Damn right you will!"_

"_And to think you were the timid one. Are you bipolar?"_

"_I will not dignify that with a response."_

"_You just did."_

"_DAMN IT!"_

"_Just calm down. I understand that you're anxious and feel like you should do something other than just sit around."_

"…_."_

"_But, the fact is we can't act until something happens. And who knows, maybe there's a chance that nothing will happen. He's been separated from his source like we have, so he can't do much now."_

"…_."_

"_Just wait. I'm sure things will turn out fine."_

"_Now who's bipolar? Weren't you this silent, doom and gloom kind of guy? The kind of guy who won't let go of what happened in the past. Then again, I think you're just being more talkative. Because you still release that doom and gloom aura thing, but you're talking more now than you usually do during a good week. Then again, things haven't been that good lately and – "_

"_There's the talkative worry wart I know."_

"_Oh shut up!"_

"_We'll just leave her to rest right now. She should be fine when she wakes up."_

"…_.I wonder if we'll ever meet the others again."_

"_Don't know. There's the chance. But, thanks to Kingdom Hearts, that chance might get slimmer each day."_

"…_.."_

"_It might be best if we got some rest as well. We don't know what all we will face in the future, so it's best that we be prepared for the worst case scenario."_

"_I thought you were being unusually optimistic about this?"_

"_That doesn't mean that we still shouldn't be prepared. It's better to be safe than sorry."_

"_Yeah….I just hope that you're right about this whole thing blowing over."_

**Hmmmm….what is this new twist that's been added? Who is talking and what are they talking about? That will be revealed in the future!**

**I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit short compared to the others. That was just how things had worked out. Other than that, I hope that this was a good chapter for you guys. Now, can you guess where I'm about to temporarily take this story based on this chapter?**

**I will await your guesses in your reviews! As well as what you think of the story thus far!**

**Later!**


	19. Chapter 19

***Stares at the last update date***

**. . . There is literally no excuse I can use at this point that will satisfy anyone. So, to cut to the chase, this story has FINALLY been updated and I suspect that a lot of you guys hate me for the wait.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Nia is my OC.**

Chapter 19

"_Wanna race to see who pays for the ice cream this time?" laughed Nia. Lea grinned._

"_Sure, but you're gonna lose!" he claimed._

"_You're ALL going to lose to me, the Great Ninja Yuffie!" Yuffie took off without waiting for the others to respond._

"_. . . She didn't wait for me to say the first one there pays for the ice cream," said Lea._

_Nia and Aerith laughed with Lea._

"_We can just tell her that after we get there. I'm in no hurry now," Nia said through the laughter._

"_Oh, Nia!"_

_She didn't get Aerith's warning until the stray heart was staring her in the face. Nia didn't give her surroundings a second thought as she closed her eyes and accepted the heart into her own._

_However, after she opened her eyes again, she saw Lea and Isa give her questioning looks. She then realized what they saw. She had never told them about her "ability"._

_Right now, they were confused. But she could still remember a time when that confusion turned into something unpleasant._

"_Hey, Nia, what was that?" asked Isa. Suddenly, breathing became a difficult task._

"_Nia, are you okay?" asked Lea. Panicking, Nia ran off._

"_Hey, Nia!" called out Lea._

"_Nia!" She didn't even stop at her sister's pleas. She just kept running. _

_Eventually, Nia found herself at the Fountain Court. She was breathing heavily as she slumped against the wall facing the fountains. Her legs were trembling from the exertion. She was sure that she would have lost anyone that was following her._

"_Nia!" Yet, somehow, Lea was still able to find her. Nia jolted, turning her head towards him in surprise. She wanted to run, but she didn't have the energy. All she could do was lean against the wall as he called her out as a freak._

"_Why'd you run?" he asked as he came closer._

"_How'd you find me?" she asked instead._

"_Aerith said that you always come here when you're troubled by something." Of course. Aerith knew her best._

"_She also told us everything," he continued. Nia froze._

"_Why didn't you say anything about it?" he asked. Nia remained silent. She chose, instead, to focus on the fountains and the sound of running water. Lea sighed._

"_Look, I know what those kids at the orphanage did was wrong, but I thought you had more faith in me. I'm a bit insulted here." Nia flicked her gaze over towards him. He was smiling at her. His smile faltered slightly when she didn't speak up still._

"_We're friends, aren't we? You should be able to trust that I'm not to turn on you just because you have a cool ability," he said. Nia frowned._

"_Cool?" she asked._

"_Yeah. Not everyone can pick up on what others are feeling, so they don't know how to help them. This also explains those times when you somehow knew when I was down and then constantly bugged me to tell you why," he said._

"_So . . . I'm not a freak?" she asked him hesitantly. Lea shook his head._

"_No! Why would I call you that? The fact that you've been trying to help troubled hearts only prove how kind you are. What's freaky about that?" He held out his hand to her._

"_Now, I believe we were supposed to go inform Yuffie that she had to pay for the ice cream?" he asked with a smile. It took a moment before Nia nodded and followed him out of the Fountain Court._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nixa slowly woke up. She felt a bit weak for some reason. Why had she been sleeping? What had she been doing before? And how did she get to a bed?

Before she could retrace her steps, something heavy plopped down on her.

"Oof!" She was about to kick the foreign object off of her when the object squirmed until something was breathing on her face. Then she heard a whine.

"Hey Max," she greeted as she scratched behind his ears.

"What happened?" she asked him. Just as she asked the question, someone entered the room.

"Nixa! You're finally up!" Nixa frowned at the source of the warm presence.

"Roxas? What are you doing at Castle Oblivion?" she asked.

"What do you mean? We're in your room here," he said. Then Roxas remembered that a) Nixa was blind and b) she had been unconscious when she came back.

"How did I get back here?" she asked once she figured out he meant The Castle That Never Was.

"Max dragged you back through a portal. Nobody knew what happened to you, though." Nixa frowned as she tried to recall the moments before she was out. She remembered that she was planning on going to apologize to Zexion for something . . .

"Do you know what happened at Castle Oblivion?" asked Roxas, hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Roxas was about to explain when Demyx entered the room.

"Oh! Looks like sleeping beauty finally woke up!" he said. Nixa rolled her eyes.

"Just how long was I out to warrant that greeting?" she asked.

"You were out for over two weeks," said Demyx. Nixa stared in his general direction in disbelief.

"You're kidding me?" Demyx shook his head.

"Nope. It was weird, though. You didn't have any injuries, yet you were out like a light! As the lone survivor, do you remember what happened at CO?" asked Demyx. Nixa frowned at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Did Roxas not tell you? You're the only one to have returned from Castle Oblivion. Everyone one else got wiped out!"

. . . He wasn't being serious, was he?

"You're joking, right?" she asked him. She was trying to ignore the feeling that something had just punched her in the chest.

"No, it's true. Everyone has been trying to figure out what was going on while you were sleeping away. Once we did, there weren't any other survivors to speak of," explained Demyx.

Roxas watched as Nixa's face paled as she looked down at her lap.

". . . I don't remember what happened before I went out. I think I was about to go see Zexion for something, but that's it. There were still others alive at that point," she said in a low tone. Demyx scratched the back of his head.

"Man, that figures. Saix isn't going to be happy if just that as an explanation," he said.

"So, you don't know what happened to Axel?" asked Roxas. It almost sounded as though he was pleading. Nixa shook her head.

"Sorry. I just don't know what happened." If it was possible for a Nobody to feel depressed, then that would be what Roxas was feeling. Nixa was still stuck in the denial stage. Depression would hit later.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Two days later, Roxas was walking towards the portal to head back to the castle after a mission.

Nixa, after explaining the details she could remember to the Superior, had been given a few days off to recover from her mission. Roxas had been to see her with Xion to see if they could cheer her up with some ice cream, but the woman had refused to leave her room. Only Max walked about the castle during their days off.

Roxas wasn't sure what to do. He wished Axel was around. He knew enough about Nixa to know how to cheer her up. But, that was the problem. Both he and Nixa were down _because_ Axel wasn't there . . .

"Hey Roxas!" Roxas paused just outside of the portal. He slowly turned around to see a familiar smirking redhead behind him.

"How's it hanging?" asked Axel. Roxas had to do a double-take just to make sure he was seeing things right. Axel walked up to him when he didn't answer.

"What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost," he said.

"Axel? But . . . I thought you were gone! Castle Oblivion – the whole team was annihilated except for Nixa and Max . . ." said Roxas, still not quite believing his eyes.

"Correction: the weaklings were annihilated. Although I am glad that Nixa was able to make it back," said Axel as he sighed slightly in relief. Roxas shook his head, frustrated.

"You had me worried!" said Roxas.

"Worried? Well, that's a neat trick, considering you haven't got a heart to feel with," laughed Axel. Roxas smiled.

"W-Wait here. I'll go buy us some ice cream!" With that, Roxas ran off for the ice cream shop.

Later, Roxas and Axel were sitting at the top of the clock tower, eating ice cream.

"I gotta check in with the boss, or he's gonna let me have it," commented Axel.

"You haven't RTC'd yet?" asked Roxas.

"Hmm? Nah."

"Well, why come here?" asked Roxas. Axel shrugged.

"Guess I needed some time to sort out my feelings," he said.

"Whatever, mister I-don't-have-a-heart," retorted Roxas. The two laughed.

"Seriously, though, you should've gone to the castle first," said Roxas once he calmed down.

"Why's that?" asked Axel.

"Because Nixa's been upset. She woke up two days ago just to be told that she and Max were the only survivors," explained Roxas. Axel frowned.

"Wait, she only just woke up?" he asked. Her condition had gotten a lot more serious if that was the case. Roxas nodded.

"Yeah. She couldn't remember anything right before she passed out, but right after she was told what happened to everyone else, she refused to leave her room. You have to go see her to tell her otherwise." Axel nodded as the information sunk in.

"Okay, we'll go see her once we get back," he promised. To be honest, Axel had been worried about facing her again. But, if she didn't remember their fight, maybe reasoning with her wouldn't be so difficult.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nixa sat on her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. The atmosphere around her was desolate. Max sat next to the bed, at a loss of what to do. He tugged at her coat with his teeth, but she didn't even stir. This was even worse than when they had escaped their home when the heartless came.

Nixa, on the other hand, was stuck in her own world. She had, to some extent, remembered what had happened back at Castle Oblivion over the past two days. Axel was responsible for Zexion's demise and he was looking to talk to her afterwards, but she couldn't remember how that argument went down. She had been told that Max had dragged her back through the portal, but she had been in no condition to go home at that moment, and Max couldn't open a Corridor of Darkness. Axel had to have been the one to do that, but why did he send her back?

Unfortunately, she might never know that because Axel had been eliminated while she had been out. Technically, she couldn't feel sad. But, there was still this hollow feeling in her chest that was more prominent now than ever.

This was the condition Nixa was in when Roxas walked in. And he wasn't alone.

"Nixa! You won't believe who's back!" he said. Max stood straight up, partly out of shock by who he was seeing, but also because he was angry at the second person. What was he thinking giving everyone that scare?

Nixa snapped out of her trance as she sensed Axel's fiery aura. Her wide-eyed gaze was aimed in his general direction.

"Hey, glad to see you got back safe and sound," said Axel with a smile. Nixa got up and slowly made her way towards the two. Axel's smile faltered when she had yet to say anything.

"Uh, Nixa?"

"You . . . are such a jackass," she said. Axel blinked.

"What?" Then she punched him in the stomach. Axel staggered back. Roxas watched the exchange, shocked. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Nixa, why'd you do that?" he asked. Axel waved off the question.

"Don't worry. I deserved that. Can you just give us a moment to talk?" Axel asked Roxas. Reluctantly, Roxas agreed and left the room. By now, Nixa was on the opposite side of the room with her back turned to him. She must have remembered what happened after all.

"I guess you're trying your best to be mad at me without a heart?" asked Axel. Nixa didn't answer. When Axel tried to step forward, Max growled at him.

"Um, can you call off Max? I just want to talk." Nixa sighed.

"Max, we don't have any spare potions at the moment, so don't bother," she said. Max took one glance in her direction before backing off. But he still kept a close eye on Axel. Axel scratched the back of his head. Finally, he sighed.

"Look, I'll just go ahead and say it. I'm sorry for what happened back at Castle Oblivion. I don't expect you to simply forgive me for that. I just can't explain everything right now, or for a long while yet. I'd ask you to trust me, except I've been doing that so much, I think you're starting to run out of patience with me. So . . . yeah, I'm sorry," he said, albeit a bit awkward towards the end. She still didn't turn around to face him.

"You're still a jackass for making everyone think you were dead just to appear out of nowhere like that," she muttered.

"Well, excuse me for still breathing. Next time, I'll make sure to go down with the group." He had said that jokingly. He didn't expect her to throw a book at his head (why she had one in her room was beyond him). She was now facing him, and her expression was distressed.

"That's not what I meant! I'm glad you're okay, but do you think I enjoyed waking up with the first bit of news I'm hearing is that one of my friends was dead? You couldn't have checked in? I'm mad at you for making me worried!" she shouted. Axel backed off slowly.

"I see your point. Sorry about that. Are we still friends?" he asked. Nixa shrugged.

"I guess . . . you can say that you're on probation," she said with a slight smirk. Axel laughed.

"I guess that's fair." Already, the atmosphere became light-hearted. It had stayed that way after Axel left. Although, Max still wanted to bite him for the ordeal he had put Nixa through. Oh well, he would do that the next time he saw the redhead.

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (that's assuming that I still have readers at this point). A little warning, updates are still sporadic as hell, but I will try (keyword: try) to not make you guys wait nearly two years.**

**Please, even though I'm a terrible person when it comes to updating, leave a review and tell me your thoughts on the chapter and overall story so far. I will be back at some time in the future. Later!**


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